Dr. Susumu Tonegawa, the former Director of the Brain Science Institute and RIKEN Fellow, passed away on July 11, 2026 at the age of 86. We express our deepest condolences.

Brief CV

1971  Member, Basel Institute for Immunology
1981  Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1994  Director, MIT Center for Learning and Memory
2002  Director, MIT Picower Institute for Learning and Memory
2007  RIKEN Fellow
2009  Director, RIKEN Brain Science Institute

Selected awards and honors

1981  Asahi Award
1982  Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize
1983  Canada Gairdner Foundation International Award
1983  Person of Cultural Merit (Bunka Korosha) from Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)
1984  Order of Culture (Bunkakunsho) from Emperor of Japan
1986  Robert Koch Award
1987  Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award
1987  Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

Message from President Makoto Gonokami

Statement on the passing of Susumu Tonegawa, Former Director of the Brain Science Institute