The Inamori Foundation and the Kyoto Symposium Organization today released additional details of the 13th annual Kyoto Prize Symposium, March 17-19, 2014, in San Diego. Honoring the most recent winners of Japan’s highest private award for global achievement, the Kyoto Prize Symposium includes a private benefit gala highlighting the laureates’ lifetime achievements, followed by free presentations by the laureates that are open to the public March 18-19. Free transportation to Symposium events at San Diego State University (SDSU), University of California San Diego (UCSD) and University of San Diego (USD) is available to high school groups through the online registration form.
Dr. Irwin Jacobs, co-founder of QUALCOMM, will continue his role as honorary chairman of the symposium, which begins with media interviews by appointment at Point Loma Nazarene University on Monday, March 17, followed by a benefit gala and opening ceremony at 5:30 p.m. at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront hotel. Mr. Masashi Oka, president and CEO of Union Bank, reprises his role as chair. Tickets for the gala, “The Kyoto Prize: Celebrating Outstanding Lifetime Achievement,” are available for $300.
Proceeds from the gala will be used to fund educational opportunities, including six Kyoto Prize Scholarships valued at $10,000 each for outstanding high school seniors from San Diego and Tijuana. These scholars, who have drawn inspiration from the Kyoto Prize laureates, will be recognized during the gala in the categories of Advanced Technology, Basic Sciences, and Arts & Philosophy, mirroring the categories of the Kyoto Prize.
“Once again we’re honored to welcome the prestigious Kyoto Prize to San Diego,” said David C. Doyle, chair of the Kyoto Symposium Organization and partner at Morrison Foerster. “Our opening gala promises to be an unforgettable evening, with performances in tribute to the Kyoto Prize laureates and inspirational greetings from the laureates themselves. I am sure the audience will be deeply impacted by these distinguished honorees, and by our scholarship recipients ― tomorrow’s achievers ― who will address the audience as well.”
Lecture presentations by the 29th Kyoto Prize Laureates will include:
Tuesday,
March 18, 10:00 a.m. PDT, SDSU’s Montezuma Hall Aztec Student Union
Advanced
Technology (Field: Electronics) - IBM Fellow Dr.
Robert Heath Dennard, 81, invented the basic structure of Dynamic
Random Access Memory (DRAM), which is now extensively utilized as an
integrated circuit (IC) memory system. His innovations have immensely
increased the capacity of digital information storage, leading to
dramatic progress in information technology and telecommunications. Dr.
Dennard and his colleagues also proposed guidelines called “scaling
theory” to miniaturize field-effect transistors, which play key roles in
most ICs, including DRAMs, thereby promoting unprecedented advances in
semiconductor technology.
Tuesday,
March 18, 3:30 p.m. PDT, UCSD’s Price Center, West Ballroom
Basic
Sciences (Field: Biological Sciences) - Pennsylvania
State University Evolutionary Biologist Dr. Masatoshi Nei,
83, made it possible to discuss evolutionary divergence and genetic
diversity in a quantitative manner by devising diverse statistical
methods such as Nei’s Genetic Distance, and applying them to molecular
data. Using these methods, Dr. Nei’s research has yielded important
contributions to molecular evolutionary biology — as well as many other
academic disciplines, including ecology and conservation biology — while
facilitating a better understanding of the evolutionary mechanism of
genes, such as positive selection.
Wednesday,
March 19, 10:30 a.m. PDT, USD’s Shiley Theatre
Arts
and Philosophy (Field: Music) – Musician and
composer Cecil Taylor, 84, is perhaps the most original pianist
in the world of jazz and improvised music. He developed his innovative
style of improvisation by departing from conventional idioms through
distinctive musical constructions and percussive renditions,
dramatically expanding the range of expression. His unsurpassed
virtuosity and strong will inject an intense, vital force into his
music, which has exerted a profound influence on a broad range of
musical genres. PLEASE NOTE: The main auditorium is sold out, but
overflow seating is available on a limited basis.
For more information visit www.kyotoprizeusa.org/.
The
Kyoto Prize
The Kyoto Prize is presented each year by
Japan’s non-profit Inamori Foundation to individuals and groups
worldwide who have demonstrated outstanding contributions to the
betterment of society, in “Advanced Technology,” “Basic Sciences,” and
“Arts and Philosophy.” The prize consists of academic honors, a gold
medal, and a cash gift of 50 million yen (about $500,000) per category,
making it Japan’s highest private award for global achievement.
The
Inamori Foundation
The non-profit Inamori Foundation was
established in Kyoto, Japan, in 1984 by Dr. Kazuo Inamori, a
humanitarian and founder of both Kyocera (NYSE:KYO) and KDDI
Corporation. Dr. Inamori created the Kyoto Prize in reflection of his
belief that human beings have no higher calling than to strive for the
greater good of society, and that mankind’s future can be assured only
when there is a balance between science, technology and the human spirit.
The
Kyoto Symposium Organization
The Kyoto Symposium
Organization is a San Diego-based 501(c)3 non-profit organization
established to support the Kyoto Prize Symposium and Kyoto Scholarship
programs with co-hosts San Diego State University; University of San
Diego; University of California, San Diego; and Point Loma Nazarene
University.
Contacts:
Leasa Ireland, 310-750-7082
leasa@lpicommunications.com
or
Brad
Shewmake, 858-735-8748
brad@lpicommunications.com