Ezra Vogel
Encyclopedia
Ezra Feivel Vogel is an Henry Ford II Professor of the Social Sciences Emeritus at Harvard University
and has written on Japan, China, and Asia.
, Ohio
. He graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University
in 1950 and received his Ph.D. from the Department of Social Relations in 1958 from Harvard. While attending Ohio Wesleyan, Vogel was a member of the Beta Sigma Tau fraternity (that later merged with the Pi Lambda Phi
fraternity).
He then went to Japan for two years to study the Japanese language and conduct research interviews with middle-class families.
and from 1961-1964 a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard, studying Chinese language and history. He remained at Harvard, becoming lecturer in 1964 and, in 1967, professor. He retired from teaching on June 30, 2000. Since retirement he has been working on a book on Deng Xiaoping
and his era.
He taught at Harvard starting in 1964 and became a tenured professor in 1968. Vogel succeeded John Fairbank
to become the second Director (1972-1977) of Harvard's East Asian Research Center and Second Chairman of the Council for East Asian Studies (1977-1980). He was Director of the Program on U.S.-Japan Relations at the Center for International Affairs (1980-1987) and, since 1987, Honorary Director. He was Chairman of the undergraduate concentration in East Asian Studies from its inception in 1972 until 1991. He was Director of the Fairbank Center for East Asian Studies
during 1973-1975 and 1995-1999. He was the first Director of the Asia Center (1997-1999). He retired from teaching in 2000.
Over a productive career, he published dozens of articles, reviews, and conference papers, major books on China, Japan, and American-East Asian Relations, and organized scholarly and policy conferences on many topics. As head of the undergraduate East Asian Studies concentration (major), he supported many students in their initial studies, and as a graduate supervisory he nurtured the careers of dozens of PhDs. From 1993 to 1995, Vogel took a two year leave from teaching and served as U.S. National Intelligence Officer for East Asia. Drawing on his original field work in Japan, he wrote Japan's New Middle Class (1963). A book based on several years of interviewing and reading materials from China, Canton Under Communism (1969), won the Harvard University Press
faculty book of the year award. The Japanese edition of his book Japan as Number One: Lessons for America (1979) is the all-time best-seller in Japan of non-fiction by a Western author. In Comeback (1988), he suggested things America might do to respond to the Japanese challenge. He spent eight months in 1987, at the invitation of the Guangdong Provincial Government, studying the progress of the province since it took the lead in economic reform in 1978. The results are reported in One Step Ahead in China: Guangdong Under Reform (1989). His Reischauer Lectures were published in The Four Little Dragons: The Spread of Industrialization in East Asia (1991). He updated his views on Japan in Is Japan Still Number One? (2000). He has visited East Asia at least once a year since 1958 and has spent a total of over six years in Asia. He lectures often in Asia, in Chinese and Japanese. Since 2000 he has organized a series of conferences between Chinese, Japanese, and Western scholars to work together to examine the China War from 1937-1945.
/WorldCat
encompasses roughly 150+ works in 400+ publications in 12 languages and 14,900+ library holdings.
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
and has written on Japan, China, and Asia.
Early life
He was born to a Jewish family in 1930 in DelawareDelaware
Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
. He graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University
Ohio Wesleyan University
Ohio Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college in Delaware, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1842 by Methodist leaders and Central Ohio residents as a nonsectarian institution, and is a member of the Ohio Five — a consortium of Ohio liberal arts colleges...
in 1950 and received his Ph.D. from the Department of Social Relations in 1958 from Harvard. While attending Ohio Wesleyan, Vogel was a member of the Beta Sigma Tau fraternity (that later merged with the Pi Lambda Phi
Pi Lambda Phi
Pi Lambda Phi International Fraternity Inc. is a college social fraternity with 35 active chapters and four colonies in the United States and Canada....
fraternity).
He then went to Japan for two years to study the Japanese language and conduct research interviews with middle-class families.
Career
In 1960-1961 he was assistant professor at Yale UniversityYale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
and from 1961-1964 a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard, studying Chinese language and history. He remained at Harvard, becoming lecturer in 1964 and, in 1967, professor. He retired from teaching on June 30, 2000. Since retirement he has been working on a book on Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping was a Chinese politician, statesman, and diplomat. As leader of the Communist Party of China, Deng was a reformer who led China towards a market economy...
and his era.
He taught at Harvard starting in 1964 and became a tenured professor in 1968. Vogel succeeded John Fairbank
John K. Fairbank
John King Fairbank , was a prominent American academic and historian of China.-Education and early career:...
to become the second Director (1972-1977) of Harvard's East Asian Research Center and Second Chairman of the Council for East Asian Studies (1977-1980). He was Director of the Program on U.S.-Japan Relations at the Center for International Affairs (1980-1987) and, since 1987, Honorary Director. He was Chairman of the undergraduate concentration in East Asian Studies from its inception in 1972 until 1991. He was Director of the Fairbank Center for East Asian Studies
Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies
The Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies at Harvard University is a post-graduate research center promoting the study of modern and contemporary China from a social science perspective. -History:...
during 1973-1975 and 1995-1999. He was the first Director of the Asia Center (1997-1999). He retired from teaching in 2000.
Over a productive career, he published dozens of articles, reviews, and conference papers, major books on China, Japan, and American-East Asian Relations, and organized scholarly and policy conferences on many topics. As head of the undergraduate East Asian Studies concentration (major), he supported many students in their initial studies, and as a graduate supervisory he nurtured the careers of dozens of PhDs. From 1993 to 1995, Vogel took a two year leave from teaching and served as U.S. National Intelligence Officer for East Asia. Drawing on his original field work in Japan, he wrote Japan's New Middle Class (1963). A book based on several years of interviewing and reading materials from China, Canton Under Communism (1969), won the Harvard University Press
Harvard University Press
Harvard University Press is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. In 2005, it published 220 new titles. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. Its current director is William P...
faculty book of the year award. The Japanese edition of his book Japan as Number One: Lessons for America (1979) is the all-time best-seller in Japan of non-fiction by a Western author. In Comeback (1988), he suggested things America might do to respond to the Japanese challenge. He spent eight months in 1987, at the invitation of the Guangdong Provincial Government, studying the progress of the province since it took the lead in economic reform in 1978. The results are reported in One Step Ahead in China: Guangdong Under Reform (1989). His Reischauer Lectures were published in The Four Little Dragons: The Spread of Industrialization in East Asia (1991). He updated his views on Japan in Is Japan Still Number One? (2000). He has visited East Asia at least once a year since 1958 and has spent a total of over six years in Asia. He lectures often in Asia, in Chinese and Japanese. Since 2000 he has organized a series of conferences between Chinese, Japanese, and Western scholars to work together to examine the China War from 1937-1945.
Selected works
In a statistical overview derived from writings by and about Ezra Vogel OCLCOCLC
OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. is "a nonprofit, membership, computer library service and research organization dedicated to the public purposes of furthering access to the world’s information and reducing information costs"...
/WorldCat
WorldCat
WorldCat is a union catalog which itemizes the collections of 72,000 libraries in 170 countries and territories which participate in the Online Computer Library Center global cooperative...
encompasses roughly 150+ works in 400+ publications in 12 languages and 14,900+ library holdings.
- A Modern Introduction to the Family (1960), with Norman W. Bell
- Japan's New Middle Class; the Salary Man and his Family in a Tokyo Suburb (1963)
- Canton under Communism; Programs and Politics in a Provincial Capital, 1949-1968 (1969)
- Modern Japanese Organization and Decision-making (1975)
- Japan as Number One: Lessons for America (1979)
- Comeback, Case by Case : Building the Resurgence of American Business' (1985)
- Ideology and National Competitiveness: an Analysis of Nine Countries (1987)
- One Step Ahead in China: Guangdong under Reform. (1989)
- Chinese Society on the Eve of Tiananmen: The Impact of Reform. (1990), with Deborah Davis
- The Four Little Dragons: the Spread of Industrialization in East Asia (1991)
- Living with China : U.S./China Relations in the Twenty-First Century. (1997)
- Is Japan Still Number One? (2000)
- The Golden Age of the U.S.-China-Japan Triangle, 1972-1989 (2002), with Ming Yuan and Akihiko Tanaka
- China at War : Regions of China, 1937-1945 (2007), with Stephen R. Mackinnon, Diana Lary
- Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China (2011)