Junzo Otera was born in Hyogo, Japan in 1943. He received undergraduate as well as graduate education in Osaka University. Immediately after earning the PhD degree in 1971, he became a research chemist in Central Research Laboratories of Kuraray Co.
In 1979, he moved to?Okayama University of Science as Associate Professor and has been Full Professor since 1986. In the meantime, he served as a visiting professor in many universities in Japan, USA, France, Spain, and Australia.
His research interests are focused on Lewis acid catalysts, heteroatom chemistry, and green process chemistry.