Kazuhito Hashimoto accepted the appointment of President of National Institute for Materials Science in Tsukuba in 2016. He is also a professor at Institute for Future Initiatives of the University of Tokyo (UT) and serves as a senior counselor to the president of UT since 2016. He is a member of Board of Governors (BOG) of Okinawa Institute Technology (OIST) since 2016. As an executive member of Council for Science, Technology & Innovation (Cabinet Office, Government of Japan), he has also been contributing to the Science and Technology Policy of Japan since 2013.
After he received his BS (1978) and MS degrees (1980) of Chemistry from UT, he obtained a research position at the Institute for Molecular Science (IMS) in 1980. He obtained a Doctor of Science degree from UT in 1984. In 1989, he was invited as a lecturer at Department Applied Chemistry at UT, where he was promoted to Associate Professor in 1991. He was appointed a full professorship at the Research Center of Advanced Science & Technology (RCAST) of UT in 1997. He served as a Director of RCAST from 2004 to 2007. He was also appointed Professor at Department of Applied Chemistry at UT from 2003 to 2016.
His research interests are spread in a very broad area including photocatalysis, microbial electrochemistry, functionalized magnetic materials, artificial photosynthesis, and polymer photovoltaics, among many others. His contributions to science are described in more than 650 peer reviewed papers and more than 50,000 citations (h-index 110). He also wrote more than 200 reviews and book chapters. The truths he uncovered are the basis for many manufactured products. His contributions to technology and engineering are described in approximately 200 issued Patents, more than 20 of which are in use.
He received many awards including the Japan Prime Minister Award for Academia-Industry Corporation in 2004, the Japan Imperial Award for Invention in 2006, the Chemical Society of Japan Award in 2012, the Heinz Gerischer Award of ECS in 2017 and the Medal of Honor with the Purple Ribbon in 2019.
