FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FROM: Clark McCann (206) 543-1806
cnmccann@u.washington.edu

DATE: January 4, 2006

Forbes Japan voted Yoshihiko Miyauchi (MBA 1960) "CEO of the Year" for 2005 in its annual ranking of the 100 most influential business leaders in Japan. Miyauchi is the Chairman and CEO of ORIX, a financial services company with more than 15,000 employees and a reputation for innovation and returning exceptional value to its shareholders.

Miyauchi is credited with guiding ORIX's extraordinary growth and profitability over the past 25 years, diversifying its business base from lease financing of machinery and industrial equipment to a broad range of financial and real estate services for Japanese and global markets.

In addition to being one of Japan's top corporate leaders, Miyauchi is proud of his reputation as an advocate for regulatory reform. He is the president of the council for promoting regulatory reform, an advisory board to the prime minister of Japan. And he serves on the boards of many major corporations in Japan.

Miyauchi credits his education at the UW Business School for management insights that helped shape his successful career. "What I learned in class during my experience in an entirely foreign culture formed the foundation of my philosophy as a businessman," he says. "Rather than relying solely on the discipline and unchanging business practices typical of Japan, I saw that our companies could develop new areas of growth by seeking out untapped opportunities and creating new forms of value." Miyauchi is a member of the UW Business School's Advisory Board.