Hiroyuki Mizuno

Biography

Hiroyuki Mizuno was born on April 20, 1929 in Hiroshima, Japan. He obtained a Bachelor's degree and a Ph.D. degree, both in Physics, from Kyoto University in 1952 and 1960, respectively.

Dr. Mizuno began his career at Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (MEI) in 1952, specializing initially in the research and development of silicon and GaAs devices. His invention of the "Mizuno Diode," which is a germanium diode with doped impurities that oscillates at 75 GHz, attracted researchers when it was announced in 1966, since microwave oscillation at such a high frequency had been believed to be very difficult in a solid-state device.

During his tenure at MEI, Dr. Mizuno, held a variety of high-level management positions, including Director of Research and Development, both in Matsushita Electronics Corporation, an MEI affiliate, and MEI. In 1994, Dr. Mizuno retired as Executive Vice President and Member of the Board ofMEI, and now serves as Distinguished Technology Advisor.

Among his important professional contributions were his efforts to foster international cooperation and information exchange. For example, from June of 1989 to June of 1990, he served as Chairman of the Foreign Semiconductor Users' Committee of the Electronics Industry Association of Japan. In this position, he was responsible for increasing U.S. market share in the Japanese semiconductor market. He also served as Chairman of the Institute of Television Engineers of Japan and occupied many other important positions in a large number of professional societies and governmental bodies. He led in the globalization of R&D activities at MEI by inviting researchers from the U.S. to participate in projects at the company, thereby encouraging such exchange by other Japanese companies.

Dr. Mizuno also has played a broad and influential role in the academic community. He regularly lectures as a visiting scholar at several prominent universities in Japan such as the Kyoto Institute of Technology and Osaka and Nagoya Universities. In the U.S., he lectures at Georgetown University and early in his career spent two years as a faculty member at the University of Illinois. He has had a long association with Stanford University and, since 1994, has been a Consulting Professor, making special contributions to the Stanford U.S.-Japan Management Center.

Dr. Mizuno was the author of numerous scientific papers and publications, and holds 22 patents. In 1989 he received the "Persons of Scientific and Technological Merits" Commendation by the Minister of the Science and Technology Agency of Japan, and, in 1994, he received an award of the Japan Electrical Manufacturers' Association for his outstanding contributions to the organization.

Hiroyuki Mizuno and his wife, Sachiko, resided in Takarazuka, Hyogo. They have two children, Yuki Okoda and Atsushi Mizuno. His outside interests included swimming.