On February 13, Professor Jun Murai, dean of the Graduate School of Media and Governance and a professor at the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, was awarded the Knight of the Legion of Honor by the French Government. The award was in recognition of his highly regarded contributions toward the development of academic exchange between France and Japan through his research of the Internet and other activities.

Professor Murai, who is known as “the father of the Internet in Japan,” established Japan’s first network connection, “JUNET,” in 1984, launched the WIDE Project, an internet research consortium, in 1988, and toiled to improve and spread internet networks. In 2013, he was inducted into the “Internet Hall of Fame (Pioneer category).” He served as a member of many governmental IT-related committees, and in 2008, he contributed to the establishment of the Japanese-French Laboratory for Informatics (JFLI) as a research representative of Keio University.

The Legion of Honor is the highest French order of merit established in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte to recognize “outstanding achievements” by civilians in various fields. At Keio University, the same award has been bestowed on, among others, Professor Atsushi Seike, who was then the president of Keio, Professor Masaharu Tsuchiya, who at the time was affiliated to the School of Medicine, and Professor Hideichi Matsubara, who was affiliated to the Faculty of Letters when he received the award.