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Kyoto Laureate Symposium

The sixth annual Kyoto Laureate Symposium, introducing three of the most innovative thinkers of our time, will be held in San Diego March 14 – 16, 2007. Sponsored by UC San Diego, San Diego State University (SDSU) and the University of San Diego (USD), the event gives us the distinction of hosting the only Kyoto Prize event outside of Japan and demonstrates our city’s status as a rising global incubator for technology, science and culture.

On our campus, the “Basic Sciences” lecture will be presented March 15 by Dr. Hirotugu Akaike, a statistician from the Institute for Statistical Mathematics in Tokyo. In the early 1970’s, Dr. Akaike developed a powerful modeling tool now known as the “Akaike Information Criterion” (AIC) that allows relationships to be identified within vast volumes of numeric data. Since he first scribbled the AIC onto a party invitation while riding the subway, it has been adopted in virtually every field of engineering, with applications in wireless communications, digital imaging, gene analysis, economics, weather forecasting, and manufacturing.

Dr. Akaike’s March 15 presentation will include visible examples of how his criterion improves digital photographs in such fields as medicine, astronomy and homeland security.

Preceding Dr. Akaike’s 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. presentation at Calit2’s Atkinson Hall, a special screening of the 22nd Kyoto Prize ceremony in Japan will be shown from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. in super high-definition 4K digital cinema. The Kyoto Prize, established by Inamori Foundation President Kazuo Inamori, is an international award honoring those who have contributed significantly to humankind's scientific, cultural, and spiritual development.

The other Kyoto Laureate speakers this year are Dr. Leonard A. Herzenberg, presenting on “Advanced Technology,” at 9:30 a.m. March 15 at SDSU; and Issey Miyake, “Arts and Philosophy” speaker, at 3:30 p.m. March 16 in USD’s Shiley Theatre.

All lecture events are free. Please register at http://www.kyotoprize.org.

Marye Anne Fox Chancellor