Yotaro (Tony) Kobayashi, WG’58, a former member of the Board of Trustees at Penn, died of chronic empyema in Tokyo, Japan on September 5. He was 82 years old.

Mr. Kobayashi was born in London, England. He earned his bachelor of arts in economics at Keio University in Japan in 1956 and his master of business administration at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1958. Upon the completion of his studies, he returned to Japan to join the Fuji Photo Film Co. Ltd. (now Fujifilm). In 1963, he began working at Fuji Xerox, the firm’s newly launched joint venture with the American company Xerox. He rose to the position of president and chief executive officer of Fuji Xerox in 1978 at the age of 44. He was appointed chairman and CEO in 1992 and chairman of the board in 1999. He became chief corporate advisor in 2006 and retired in 2009. During his tenure, Fuji Xerox expanded its sales territory, greatly developed its product line, brought about innovations such as the first multifunction printer/copier and in 1980 received the Deming Prize, Japan’s highest quality award. Because of Mr. Kobayashi’s strong interest in balancing the needs of the company with those of individual workers and the broader community, the firm also launched Japan’s first social-service leave program and broke new ground in family care leave and parenting leave.

At Penn, he served on the Board of Trustees from 1998 to 2002 and was a member of the Honorary Degrees and Awards Committee. From 1991 to 2005, he was an Overseer of the Wharton School. In addition, he served as a member of Wharton’s Dean’s Council from 2004 to 2008 and had been a member of the Executive Board for Asia since 1991. The University also benefited from his service as president of the Wharton Club of Japan and a member of the Penn Alumni Council and the Penn Alumni Board of Directors. He was a popular speaker on campus, opened many doors for the University in Japan, generously supported the Wharton School and was a driving force behind the creation of Wharton’s US-Japan Management Studies Center. For his extraordinary dedication to Wharton, he received the Wharton Alumni Association’s highest honor, the Alumni Award for Distinguished Service, in 1989.

Mr. Kobayashi is survived by his wife, Momoyo, and his children, Kaku, Chiho and Maki.