On April 1, Tokyo's Waseda University presented its honorary Doctor of Laws degree to former Chicago Mercantile Exchange chairman Leo Melamed, in recognition of his role in transforming the world of finance.

At the entrance ceremony for new students, President Kaoru Kamata noted the position of Waseda University as a link between its alumnus Chiune Sugihara and Melamed, who was able to escape Nazi oppression during World War II thanks to transit visas issued by Sugihara, then Vice Consul in Lithuania.

Sugihara is remembered by history for his courage in defying Ministry orders, issuing visas which allowed 6000 Jews to escape persecution in 1940. Sugihara risked his career and his family's safety to help people in need, and is commemorated in Lithuania, Poland, the United States and Israel, where he was named as one of the Righteous Among Nations, a national honor.

Sugihara's intervention is estimated to have saved 6000 lives directly, and accounted for some 50,000 descendants.

Speaking to over 2000 new students and their families in the packed Memorial Hall, Melamed expressed his personal gratitude and respect for Sugihara, as a "great, righteous person, a hero for humanity," who made possible Melamed's own achievements as an innovator in finance, including launching the first electronic trading system and the first currency futures market in Chicago.

Melamed summed up Sugihara's example as a humanitarian in his motto that "One person can change the world," charging each young student to make an impact on the world by having courage of their convictions.