Professor Kenzo Kiikuni (1933 – 2020)

Professor Kenzo Kiikuni, former Chair, President and Senior Advisor to Sasakawa Health Foundation, passed away on May 15 at his residence in Tokyo at the age of 87. His health had been declining for the past year.

He was one of the founding members in 1974 of Sasakawa Health Foundation, and went on to lead the foundation as Chair from 2000 to 2013 and as President from 2013 to 2017. A distinguished teacher and valued leader, he was a central figure in carrying out the foundation’s mission both at home and abroad.

All of us at the foundation are deeply saddened by this loss and extend our condolences to his family.  We will miss Prof. Kiikuni tremendously but, as we carry on our work, we have his example to show us the way.

Professor Kiikuni (right) together with
Gro Harlem Brundtland, director general of the WHO from 1998 to 2003 (center) and
Dr. Shigeaki Hinohara, former president of Sasakawa Health Foundation, who died in 2017.

Professor Kiikuni (left) with Yohei Sasakawa, chairman of The Nippon Foundation, standing next to a bust of Ryoichi Sasakawa during a visit to WHO headquarters in Geneva.