NEW YORK — Professor Jeanette C. Takamura, dean of the Columbia University School of Social Work, has been honored with The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon, for her contributions to the promotion of social welfare policies and programs and the status of Japanese Americans.

First awarded in 1875, the Order is the second highest honor that has been bestowed to a non-Japanese citizen since 1981. Women joined the ranks of those honored only in 2003.

The conferment ceremony took place at the official residence of the Japanese Ambassador and Consul-General in New York on Dec. 2.

From 1997 to 2001, Takamura was assistant secretary for aging at the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. Before this, she was the first deputy of the Hawaii State Department of Health.