On 25 May 2007, Mr. Yohei Sasakawa, chairperson of The Nippon Foundation of Japan in Tokyo, was awarded a Doctorate of Humane Letters Honoris Causa during RIT's academic convocation ceremony. Sasakawa san was recognized for his efforts to foster world peace, his work to improve the educational circumstances of men and women who are deaf, and his contributions to the eradication of leprosy, which is a major life work goal for him. The honorary degree was conferred by President Albert J. Simone at the same ceremony at which an honorary Doctorate was also conferred upon President Bill Clinton.

Mr. Sasakawa leads the Nippon Foundation of Japan, an organization with an annual philanthropic budget of $750,000,000. He also serves as the World Health Organization Ambassador of Goodwill for Leprosy Elimination, and is the recipient of the Health-for-All Gold Medal of the World Health Organization. Along with Vaclav Havel and Elie Wiesel, Mr. Sasakawa established Forum 2000-an ongoing gathering of world leaders that promotes global peace and world justice. Mr. Sasakawa was the primary advocate for funding the Postsecondary Education Network International at RIT's National Technical Institute for the Deaf. PEN-International works primarily in developing countries to improve the tertiary education of men and women who are deaf.

Yohei Sasakawa holds five honorary doctoral degrees and six honorary professorships in recognition of his philanthropic work. During his trip to Rochester, he was accompanied by Ms. Natsuko Tominaga of the Nippon Foundation Public Relations Department, Mr. Yasunobi Ishii and Ms. Maki Honda of the Nippon Foundation International Program Department, and Ms. Kanae Hirano, interpreter.

The Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters awarded to Sasakawa san at this convocation was the first he received from a university in the USA.