Kazuro Kikuchi received the BS degree in electrical engineering and the MS and PhD degrees in electronic engineering from the University of Tokyo. In 1979, he joined the Department of Electronic Engineering at the University of Tokyo. In 2016, he became a Professor with the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Systems, and in 2017, he became a Professor Emeritus. He is currently a Specially Appointed Professor of National Institution for Academic Degrees and Quality Enhancement of Higher Education. He also worked at Bell Communications Research from 1986 to 1987 as a Consultant and presently serves on the board of directors of Alnair Labs Corporation.

Kikuchi is a Fellow of the IEEE, OSA, and an Honorable Member of the Instite of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the IEICE Achievement Award, the Japan IBM Science Prize, the Hattori Hokosho Prize, the Ericsson Telecommunications Award, the Japanese Prime Minister's Award for the promotion of academy–industry collaboration, the C&C Prize, and the John Tyndall Award.