Yasuharu Suematsu earned his PhD from the Tokyo Institute of Technology in 1960. He joined the faculty there and became a full professor in 1973. In 1989, he became President of the Institute. He later became Director General of a National Institute at MITI, President of Kochi University of Technology, and Director-General of the National Institute of Informatics. Today, he is Honorary Professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology and Chairperson of the Kenjiro Takyanagai Foundation. He is a Foreign Associate of the national Academy of Engineering, a Foreign Member of the National Engineering Academy of Korea, and a Fellow of OSA and IEEE. He has received many awards for his work, including the IEEE Quantum Electronics Award in 1982; David Sarnoff Award in 1986; John Tyndall Award from OSA in 1993; James H. Mulligan, Jr. Education Medal in 2003; Valdemar Paulsen's Gold Medal in 1983; the Toray Science and Technology Prize in 1989; the C&C Prize in 1994; the Eduard Rhein Prize in 1996; and the Okawa Prize and the Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold and Silver Star in 2006.