At a meeting of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences on May 5, 2026, the following tribute to the life and service of the late Akira Iriye was spread upon the permanent records of the Faculty.
Born: Oct. 20, 1934
Died: Jan. 27, 2026
The life of Akira Iriye, Charles Warren Professor of American History, Emeritus, who died in Jan. 2026 at the age of 91, was profoundly shaped by the forces of 20th-century international history. He, in turn, transformed the writing of that history.
Born in Japan in 1934, Iriye was in the first grade when the Pacific War began and in the fifth grade when it ended in 1945. More than seven decades later, he recalled his shock when the U.S.-led occupation authorities in Japan ordered that school history textbooks be completely rewritten:
