Ronald DiCenzo, professor emeritus of history and East Asian studies at Oberlin College, died Nov. 4, 2017, at the age of 78.
Excelling as a student, DiCenzo graduated in 1961 from Canisius College in Buffalo, N.Y. He undertook graduate studies in history at the University of Kansas from 1961 to 1964, where he switched from East European history to Japanese history, and then studied at the University of Hawaii from 1964 to 1965. He spent several years in Japan in the 1960s for advanced language training and research.
DiCenzo earned a master’s degree in 1971 and a Ph.D. in history in 1978 from Princeton. He joined the Oberlin faculty in 1972 and taught Japanese history and language (plus sub-Saharan history). During the next 20 years, he built great interest in Japan on the Oberlin campus as Japan rose as an economic and cultural superpower.
In the mid-1970s, DiCenzo helped Oberlin affiliate with the newly formed Associated Kyoto Program consortium of colleges in the United States, through which he sent scores of students for study in Japan. He retired in 2005. DiCenzo was regarded as an inspirational and approachable teacher. Many of his students had careers related to Japan or Asia.
He left no family survivors.
Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.