SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Inamori Foundation and the Kyoto Symposium Organization today announced a detailed schedule for the 18th annual Kyoto Prize Symposium, featuring unique educational events on four area university campuses.
Dr. Irwin Jacobs, co-founder of QUALCOMM, continues as honorary chairman of the Symposium, which begins with private media interviews of the latest Kyoto Prize laureates by appointment (for details call 858-576-2674) at the InterContinental San Diego hotel, Tues., March 19, 9:30-11:00am, hosted by Point Loma Nazarene University (PLNU).
A benefit gala honoring the laureates will occur March 20, 5:30pm, in the InterContinental’s Pacific Ballroom, with Mr. Masato Miyachi, Chairman of MUFG Americas Holdings and its U.S. subsidiary, MUFG Union Bank, presiding as gala chair. The evening’s proceeds will fund educational opportunities for local students — including 2019-‘20 Kyoto Prize scholarships valued at up to US$10,000 or MXN100,000 each, to be presented during the gala to six outstanding high school seniors from the San Diego/Baja region. Gala tickets can be purchased for $300 by calling (858) 733-0323.
Free Public Lectures
The Kyoto Prize Symposium’s March 20-21 lectures are free and open to the public. Reservations are required — please register using the links below, or visit “Event Registration” at http://kyotoprize-us.org/ .
- Neuroscientist Karl Deisseroth, M.D., Ph.D., 2018 Kyoto Prize Laureate in Advanced Technology, will speak at San Diego State University, Wed., March 20, 10:00-11:30am-PDT, at Conrad Prebys Aztec Student Union, Montezuma Hall. Deisseroth, a Stanford University professor and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, led the discovery of optogenetics, a new discipline in which cellular activity is controlled by light. In the process, he developed a novel and universal technique to manipulate brain activity at the neural circuit level — revolutionizing the field of systems neuroscience and impacting more than a thousand research labs worldwide. Click to learn more about Karl Deisseroth and register to attend Karl Deisseroth’s lecture.
- Mathematician Masaki Kashiwara, Ph.D., 2018 Kyoto Prize Laureate in Basic Sciences, will speak at UC San Diego, Wed., March 20, 2:00-3:30pm-PDT, at Price Center West Ballroom. Kashiwara, a Project Professor at Kyoto University’s Research Institute for Mathematical Sciences, played a decisive role in the creation and development of algebraic analysis. He established the theory of D-modules and made numerous other achievements involving the Riemann-Hilbert correspondence, its application to representation theory, and contribution to crystal basis theory — which have collectively exerted great influence on various fields of mathematics and contributed to their development. Click to learn more about Masaki Kashiwara and register to attend Masaki Kashiwara’s lecture,
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Artist Joan Jonas, 2018 Kyoto Prize Laureate in Arts and
Philosophy, will have two speaking events at University of San Diego,
Thu., March 21:
Lecture: 10:30am-12:00pm, Shiley Theatre, register here.
Workshop: 2:30pm-4pm, Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice, register here.
Jonas, an MIT professor emerita, established a new artistic form in the early 1970s by integrating performance art with the emerging medium of electronic video. Her pioneering works span 50 years — with recent installations at the 2015 Venice Biennale, one of the world’s most influential art exhibitions, and London’s Tate Modern, which featured a five-month exhibit of her work in 2018. Her upcoming exhibits in 2019 and 2020 will be featured at Japan’s ROHM Theatre Kyoto and Kyoto City University of Arts Art Gallery @KCUA. Click to learn more about Joan Jonas and register using the links above to attend Joan Jonas’s lecture and/or workshop.
“It is always an honor and a pleasure to welcome world-leading thinkers to San Diego,” said David C. Doyle, chair of the Kyoto Symposium Organization and senior counsel at global law firm Morrison Foerster. “We are delighted to host these Kyoto Prize laureates, and to introduce this year’s Kyoto Prize scholarship recipients, whose high school achievements already foretell great promise for the next generation.”
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 100 million yen (more than $900,000) per category, making it Japan’s highest private award for global achievement.
The non-profit Inamori Foundation was established in Kyoto, Japan, in 1984 by Dr. Kazuo Inamori, founder of Kyocera Corp. and KDDI Corp., and honorary adviser to Japan Airlines. Inamori created the Kyoto Prize in reflection of his belief that people have no higher calling than to strive for the greater good of humankind and society, and that the future of humanity can be assured only when there is a balance between scientific progress and spiritual depth.
The Kyoto Symposium Organization
The Kyoto Symposium Organization is a San Diego-based 501(c)3 non-profit established to support the Kyoto Prize Symposium and Kyoto Scholarship programs with the Inamori Foundation and co-hosts San Diego State University; University of San Diego; University of California, San Diego; and Point Loma Nazarene University. Since 2004, the Symposium has generated more than $2.7 million for scholarships, fellowships and other educational opportunities in the San Diego/Baja region.
