On November 14, the OIST Foundation will celebrate its public launch at the residence of Hon. Shinsuke J. Sugiyama, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to the United States of America. Over 110 people have registered to attend, including leaders in the sciences, government, business, U.S.-Japan relations, and Okinawan communities in the United States.
The event will feature performances by violinist Eiko Kano, pianist Karén Hakobyan, and traditional Okinawan dance and eisa by Okinawa Cultural Performance, a roundtable panel on scientific research at OIST, remarks by OIST President and CEO Dr. Peter Gruss, a talk by OIST Foundation Chair Takeshi Ueshima (Founder and CIO, Heritage Financial Management), comments from OIST Alumnus Dr. Faisal Mahmood (Assistant Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School), and congratulatory remarks from Dr. Cherry Murray (Chair of the OIST Board of Governors and Benjamin Peirce Professor of Technology and Public Policy at the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Professor of Physics, Emerita at Harvard University), Nobel laureate Dr. Torsten Wiesel (Vincent and Brooke Astor Professor Emeritus and President Emeritus of The Rockefeller University), and Dr. Rita Colwell (Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland at College Park and at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health; senior advisor and chairman emeritus at Canon US Life Sciences, Inc.; president and chairman of CosmosID, Inc.; and a member of the OIST Board of Governors).
The event brings to life a new Foundation dedicated to enhancing U.S.-Japan scientific collaboration and that aims to support and enhance OIST and Okinawa through OIST.