SSQ Collaborating Speakers

Collaborating Speakers

This page contains brief biographies of people who were not involved in the SSQ workshops but whose involvement in the field of science and religion has made them valued participants in SSQ public events.

Please note: these bios date from the time of the SSQ program. In the time since the program, some of the participants have moved institutions and some have passed away.

Imad Ad Din Ahmed

Imad Ad Din Ahmed is astronomer and Professor of Social Change and of Religion and Progress at the John Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies and at the University of Maryland. President and Director of the Minaret of Freedom Institute, USA, he is the author of Signs in the Heaven: A Muslim Astronomer’s Perspective on Religion and Science.

Munawar Anees
Interdisciplinary University of Paris

Dr. Munawar A. Anees is the Executive Director of Knowledge Management Systems (KnowSys) based in Arizona. A biologist by training, he is widely known as a writer and a cultural critic. He is the author of several books and over 300 articles on religion and science, bioethics, and Islamic studies. One of his works, Islam and Biological Futures; Ethics, Gender and Technology, is considered a classic on Islamic bioethics. The Founding and Advisory Editor of many scholarly journals, including Journal of Islamic Science, his Periodica Islamica was hailed as a pioneering initiative on current awareness. An advisor to the former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, he is an elected member of the Royal Academy of Jordan. Anees was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in February 2002.

Werner Arber
University of Basel

Dr. Arber was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine for the discovery of the restriction enzymes which opened new paths to genetic engineering. He is a Professor of Molecular Microbiology at the University of Basel. His main scientific interests are the mechanisms which promote and which limit exchange of genetic information in microorganisms. His research has been very important in the understanding of DNA. He has postulated a theory of molecular evolution, according to which the products of evolutionary genes carried in the genome are involved either in the generation or in the limitation of genetic variation, without implying a specific direction to biological evolution. Rather, the course of biological evolution results from the casual action of the products of evolutionary genes on DNA, from the conformational flexibility of the structures of biologically active molecules, from the largely stochastic nature of any interaction affecting genetic stability, and from chance environmental influences, whereby the steadily exerted natural selection limits diversity according to the temporal fitness of the organisms involved.

N. Balakrishnan

N. Balakrishnan is currently a Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the Indian Institute of Science. He was responsible for the creation of the Centre for Microprocessor Applications, The National Centre for Science Information, and the Supercomputer Education & Research Centre at the Indian Institute of Science. Presently, Balakrishnan is the Chairman of the Division of Information Sciences and Services. His areas of research include Numerical Electromagnetics, Polarimetric Radars and Aerospace Electronic Systems. In 2002 he was awarded the Padmashree by the President of India. He is also the National Coordinator of the Indo-French Cyber University and the Indo-US Digital Library Project.


Anindita N. Balslev

With teaching and research experience in India, Denmark, France, and the USA, Balslev has made important contributions in the areas of cross-cultural studies and Indian philosophy in forums concerning world religion dialogues. She has served on the board of the American Association of the Advancement of Sciences and is currently a nominated member of the International Society for Science and Religion. She is the author of A Study of Time in Indian Philosophy (1999), Cultural Otherness (2000), and is editor of Cross-cultural Conversation (1996).


Ian Barbour
Carleton College

Born in Beijing in 1923, Ian Barbour spent his childhood in China, the United States and England. After the family settled in America, Barbour attended Swarthmore College, receiving a degree in physics at age 20. Later, while studying at the University of Chicago, he served as a teaching assistant to Enrico Fermi. In 1949, he completed his Ph.D. in physics and became the physics department chair at Kalamazoo College in Michigan two years later. In 1953, Barbour enrolled in Yale Divinity School, a move that began his investigation into the realm where science and religion meet. In 1955, he was appointed to teach both physics and religion at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, and became chair of the religion department in the 1960s. With his groundbreaking 1965 book, Issues in Science and Religion, Barbour explored the relation of religion to the history, methods and theories of science. As his 1999 Templeton Prize nominating citation noted, "No contemporary has made a more original, deep and lasting contribution toward the needed integration of scientific and religious knowledge and values than Ian G. Barbour. With respect to the breadth of topics and fields brought into this integration, Barbour has no equal." Barbour is currently the Winifred and Atherton Bean Professor (Emeritus) of Science, Technology, and Society at Carleton College and lives with his wife, Deane, in Northfield, Minnesota.

Books by Ian Barbour:
When Science Meets Religion, Harper San Francisco, 2000
Religion and Science: Historical and Contemporary Issues, Harper San Francisco, 1997
Ethics in an Age of Technology, Harper San Francisco, 1992


Gaymon Bennett
Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences

Gaymon Bennett holds a master's degree from the Graduate Theological Union in theological ethics and is currently a student in the doctoral studies program in systematic theology. For three years he has served as Director of Communications for the Science and Religion Course Program at the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences (CTNS) in Berkeley. At CTNS his research focuses on the relationship between science, religion, society and culture, with particular emphasis on bioethics. Additionally, he serves as research assistant to the Ethics Advisory Board of the Geron Corporation, a company focusing on stem cell research and therapeutics. He is a published author on the topic of genetics and ethics as well as co-editor, with Ted Peters, of the upcoming volume, Bridging Science and Religion.

M. L. Bhaumik

M. L. Bhaumik is a laser physicist and co-inventor of the first excimer laser. During his 25-year career in laser research, he has published over 50 professional papers and is the holder of a dozen patents in the laser field. Bhaumik is an elected fellow of the American Physical Society as well as the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers.

D. P. Chattopadhyaya

D. P. Chattopadhyaya was the first Chairman of the Indian Council of Philosophical Research (1981-90) and Chairman of the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, Shimla (1981-91). Currently he is Director and General Editor of the 77-volume multidisciplinary Project of History of Science, Philosophy and Culture in Indian Civilizations. Among his notable writings are: Societies, Cultures and Ideologies and Science, Society, Value and Civilizational Dialogue.


Christian de Duve
Catholic University of Louvain, Rockefeller University in New York

Nobel Laureate in Medicine in 1974 for his discoveries on a cell's internal structure, Dr. de Duve is the founder of the 'Institut International de Pathologie Cellulaire (IPC)' (International Institute of Cellular Pathology). He is a professor at the Catholic University of Louvain, and Rockefeller University in New York, where he developed numerous research projects on the apparition and evolution of life, which is explored in his books, Construire une cellule (Build a Cell) and Poussières de Vie (Dust of Life).

Noah Efron
Bar Ilan University

Dr. Efron is an historian of science and religion whose writing and teaching focus on Jewish attitudes towards nature and science in early modern Europe. He teaches at Bar Ilan University, where he inaugurated a new graduate program in the history and philosophy of science. He has taught at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education, Tel Aviv University, and the Jerusalem affiliate of the Jewish Theological Seminary. Dr. Efron's new book, Trembling with Fear, about religion in Israel, is forthcoming from Basic Books. Dr. Efron also received the 1999 Philadelphia Center for Religion and Science / John Templeton Foundation Grant for Research and Writing on the Constructive Interaction of the Sciences and Religion for his book-in-progress, Golem, God and Man: Divine and Human in an Age of Biotechnology.

Abdou Filali-Ansari

Director of the Aga Khan University Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations (AKU-ISMC), located in London (UK), Dr. Abdou Filali-Ansary was trained in philosophy. From 1970 to 1973, he was professor of modern philosophy at Mohammed V University in Rabat, Morocco. He held administrative positions from 1973 to 1984, where he became the director of the King Abdul-Aziz Foundation for Islamic Studies and Human Sciences in Casablanca. In 1993, he initiated, along with friends from the academic community in Morocco, a bilingual journal (Arabic and French) entitled Prologues; revue maghrébine du livre.

Syuji Hashimoto
Professor, Department of Applied Physics
Waseda University School of Science and Engineering

Dr. Hashimoto received B.S., M.S. and Dr.Eng. degrees in Applied Physics from Waseda University in 1970, 1973 and 1977, respectively. He is currently a Professor in the Department of Applied Physics, School of Science and Engineering, Waseda University and the director of the Humanoid Robotics Institute, Waseda University. He was with the Faculty of Science, Toho University, Funabashi, Japan, from 1979 to 1991. His research interests are in human communication and Kansei information processing including image processing, music systems, neural networks and humanoid robotics.


Devaki Jain

A development economist, Devaki Jain held a fellowship at Centre for Advanced Studies at the Delhi School of Economics and was a Fulbright Fellow. She has been a member of the Government of Karnataka’s State Planning Board (India), and a member of eminent expert groups for both the Indian Government and UN agencies.

D. R. Kaarthikeyan

D. R. Kaarthikeyan is a lawyer by profession. He has been involved with human rights, terrorism, insurgency and extremism, values and attitudes, rural development, agriculture, religious harmony, social justice and spirituality.

R. L. Kapur

R. L. Kapur is currently the J.R.D. Tata Visiting Professor at the National Institute of Advanced Studies at Bangalore. Previously he had been a Professor of Psychiatry and Deputy Director of the Institute. His research interests lie mainly in the field of social and cultural psychiatry. He has spent the last several years examining principles in mental health care enunciated in the old Indian scriptures as well as in Indian philosophy texts. He has carried out experiential research in yoga and has studied the sadhus and sanyasis living in the Himalayas.

Fumihiko Katayama
Chief Priest of Hanazono Shrine, Medical Doctor (Shintoist)

Dr. Katayama was born in Tokyo in 1936. After graduating from a Shinto university, he graduated from the Faculty of Medicine, Showa University in 1966 and acquired his PhD in medical science in 1971. After working as lecturer of public health at the Tokyo Women’s Medical University, Dr. Katayama became chief priest of the Hanazono Shrine. As a medical doctor and a Shinto chief priest, he has published numerous books bridging the two disciplines of medicine and religion.

Idriss Khalil

Professor of Mathematics at the Mohammed V University, chair of Mathematic Analysis, and visiting professor in many international universities, Dr. Idriss Khalil is a member of the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco, and the Islamic Academy of Sciences. He is a former Minister of Education (Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche Scientifique).

Donald Knuth
Stanford University

Dr. Knuth is Professor Emeritus of The Art of Computer Programming at Stanford University. He is the author of numerous books, including three volumes of The Art of Computer Programming. He has received many awards, including the Turing Award from the Association for Computing Machinery; the National Medal of Science from President Carter (1979); the Steele Prize from the American Mathematical Society; the John von Neumann Medal from the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers; and the Kyoto Prize from the Inamori Foundation. He holds honorary doctorates from several institutions, including Oxford University, the University of Paris, the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, and fourteen colleges and universities in America.

Jean Kovalevsky

Jean Kovalevsky is an astronomer, and a member of the Academy of Sciences. President of the International Committee of Weights and Measures, and Specialist in Celestial Mechanics and Astronomy, he was formerly in charge of the International Consortium FAST, analyzing the data from the Satellite Hipparcos. He is a Former Director of CERGA at the Observatory of the Cote d'Azur.

Michael Krasny
Host, Forum, KQED 88.5FM

Career Highlights: In addition to his radio career, Krasny is an author and professor of literature. His numerous awards include a Meritorious Achievement in Radio award from Media Alliance, the S. Y. Agnon Award for Intellectual Distinction from Hebrew University, Human Rights Coverage award from the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, and the George Knox Award in Journalism.

N. Kumar

N. Kumar is the Director of Raman Research Institute. He has made substantial contributions in the field of Condensed Matter Physics specifically in the area of classical and quantum transport in disordered systems, phrase transition, and superconductivity.

Wajih Maazouzi

A renowned cardiologist in Morocco, Wajih Maazouzi was head of the Moroccan team who managed the first heart transplantation, and first graft from a dead body in Morocco. Furthermore, Prof. Maazouzi obtained a PhD in Law in 1988. He is member, founding-member, and president of a number of cardiology associations in Morocco and abroad. He is author of several works particularly in the medical field, and is presently director of the University Hospital in Rabat (Morocco) and a personal advisor to the Minister of Public Health.

Rajiv Malhotra

After a career in information technology, Malhotra started The Infinity Foundation in 1995 and left the for-profit world. The Foundation’s vision is to encourage multiculturalism and globalization in which non-Western civilizations are given equal respect, including their native knowledge representation systems. Maholtra’s research interests are in Westology, Indology, Indic traditions and science and dharma.

Katsukiyo Marukawa
Visiting Professor, Center for Advanced Science and Technology, Osaka University

Dr. Marukawa received his PhD in engineering from the Faculty of Engineering, Tohoku University in 1982. His fields of research are Refining Reaction Engineering, Soliditication Coagulation Engineering, Energy Resources Engineering, Earth Environment Engineering, and Inverse Manufacturing Engineering. He joined Sumitomo Metals Industries, Ltd. in 1963 and he served as Deputy Director and General Manager of the Iron and Steel Technology Institute and Senior Researcher of the United Technology Institute. He was visiting professor at the High Technology and Science Joint Research Institute, Osaka University and Beijing University of Science and Technology, and has been conferred the title of Professor Emeritus from North-West University in China. He is an active engineer as well as a lay leader of the Rinzaishu Enkakuji (Zen temple). He has been studying under the venerable Buddhist monk, Kouun An Tatsuta Eizan and Masen-an Hakuta Goseki, continuing his religious learning and pursuit of Zen Buddhism.

Sangeetha Menon

Sangeetha Menon is a philosopher with an undergraduate degree in zoology. She has been working as Associate Fellow, Culture, Cognition and Consciousness Unit at NIAS 1996. She has been working in the area of consciousness and has spoken nationally and internationally. Her research interests include Indian ways of thinking in classical philosophical schools, Indian psychology and Indian dramaturgy in the current discussions on consciousness.

Kenneth Miller
Brown University

Dr. Miller is a professor at Brown University and a specialist in cellular development. Author of several biology textbooks, Dr. Miller is intensely involved in fighting creationism in the United States, in collaboration with the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is the author of Finding Darwin's God, a book which defends a Darwinian vision of evolution, as well as the possibility of rendering this vision compatible with Christian faith.

P. K. Mukhopadhyay

P. K. Mukhopadhyay is professor of Philosophy at Jadavpur University, Calcutta. His is a National Fellow of the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla. His fields of interest include Indian systems of philosophy, particularly Nyaya Philosophy, Philosophical Logic and Philosophy of Science.


V. Nanjundiah

V. Nanjundiah is Director of the National Institute of Advanced Studies and Chairman of the Fluid Dynamics Unit at the Jawaharlal Nehru Center for Advanced Scientific Research. His research has been chiefly concerned with fluid dynamics and related atmospheric problems. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society and a Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Sciences and of Engineering. He has taught at Caltech, Cambridge and other universities.


M. G. Narasimhan

M. G. Narashimhan is Associate Fellow in Philosophy, Science and Society Unit at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, and is presently working in History and Philosophy of Life Sciences.

Andrew Newberg
University of Pennsylvania

Dr. Newberg is Director of Clinical Nuclear Medicine, Director of NeuroPET Research, and Assistant Professor in the Department of Radiology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Upon graduating from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1993, Dr. Newberg trained in Internal Medicine at the Graduate Hospital in Philadelphia. Newberg's research now largely focuses on how brain function is associated with various mental states—in particular, the relationship between brain function and mystical or religious experiences. The results and implications of this research are delineated in Dr. Newberg's book, Why God Won’t Go Away (Ballantine/Random House).

Ted Peters
Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences

Ted Peters is Professor of Systematic Theology at Lutheran Theological Seminary and the Graduate Theological Union (GTU) in Berkeley, California, USA, and he directs the Science and Religion Course Program at the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences at the GTU. He is editor of Dialog, a Journal of Theology, and the author of God—The World’s Future (Fortress 1992); For the Love of Children; Genetic Technology and the Future of the Family (Westminster/John Knox 1996); and Playing God? Genetic Determinism and Human Freedom (Routledge 1997). He edited Genetics; Issues of Social Justice (Pilgrim 1998) and Science and Theology; The New Consonance (Westview 1998).


Joseph Prabhu

Joseph Prabhu is Professor of Philosophy at California State University, Los Angeles and Visiting Professor of Religion at University of California at Berkeley. He is a Senior Fellow at the Harvard Center for the Study of World Religions and is co-editor of Revision, a journal of consciousness and transformation. He is completing a book entitled, Gandhi and a Culture of Peace; Reflections on Contemporary Crises (2004).


P. Rama Rao

P. Rama Rao is presently ISRO Dr. Brahm Prakash Distinguished Professor. His areas of specialization are Deformation & fracture and Alloy Development. He is President of the Indian National Academy of Engineering and Vice-President of the International Union of Materials Research Societies. He is a Foreign Member, Royal Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of Ukrainian Academy of Sciences and of the Third World Academy of Sciences.


S. K. Ramachandra Rao

Well versed in ancient and modern Indian languages and acquainted with Tibetan and European languages, S. K. Ramachandra Rao has written extensively on Vedanta, Buddhism, Jainism, Indian Culture, Art and Literature. He is presently the Senior Associate of NIAS and has taught and headed Clinical Psychology in the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences in Bangalore.


K. Ramakrishna Rao

K. Ramakrishna Rao was Director of the Institute for Parapsychology and the Executive Director of the Foundation for Research on the Nature of Man. He is the founder-editor of the Journal of Indian Psychology. His most recent book is Consciousness Studies: Cross-Cultural Perspectives (2002).


Hubert Reeves
National Center for Scientific Research

Hubert Reeves is an astrophysicist, and one of the scientists best known to the French public. He has been Research Director at the National Center of Scientific Research (CNRS) since 1966, while connected to the Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique of Saclay in France. He is an honorary Doctor at the University of Montreal and attached to the University as Associate Professor. Former scientific advisor to the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), he has published numerous specialized articles and books destined to popularize Astrophysics to a wide audience.


Norbert Samuelson
Arizona State University

Dr. Samuelson is the Grossman Chair of Jewish Studies at Arizona State University in the Department of Religious Studies. He is the founder and secretary of the Academy of Jewish Philosophy. Dr. Samuelson's scholarship focuses on Jewish philosophy and theology. He has written extensively on both medieval and modern Jewish philosophy. In the field of religion and science he has authored two major philosophical-theological works that wrestle with the problem of creation: The First Seven Days: A Philosophical Commentary on the Creation of Genesis (1992) and Judaism and the Doctrine of Creation (1994). Professor Samuelson has been active in the American Academy of Religion, the Association of Jewish Studies, the American Theological Society, and the American Philosophical Association. In these organizations he has articulated a distinctly Jewish way of doing philosophy and demonstrated how to think creatively and precisely about the interface of reason and faith.


Swami Bodhananda Sarasvati

Respected in both America and India as an accomplished teacher of Vedanta and meditation, at an early age Swami Bodhananda Sarasvati felt a spiritual calling, readily took spiritual tapas, and, with a deep sense of compassion, vowed to help humanity. He graduated from Christ College in Kerala in economics and after years traveling in the Himalayas he joined the Sarasvati order. He is the author of several books: Meditation: The Awakening of Inner Powers, The Gita and Management, Rishi Vision and Self Unfoldment in An Interactive World.


Sundar Sarukkai

Trained in physics and psychology, Sundar Sarukkai works in areas of philosophy of science, philosophy of mathematics, phenomenology and postmodernism. He is a Fellow at NIAS, and is author of Translating the World; Science and Language (2002) and Philosophy of Symmetry (pending).


Albert Sasson

Albert Sasson has a PhD in Microbiology, and is Professor at the Rabbat Faculty of Sciences (University Mohamed V). He is former Deputy Director at UNESCO in Paris.

Humitaka Sato
Professor, Konan University
Professor Emeritus, Kyoto University

Dr. Sato was born in Yamagata Prefecture in 1938. He has served as Director of Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics, Kyoto University, and as the Dean of the Faculty of Science. He retired from Kyoto University and was conferred the title of Professor Emeritus of Kyoto University in 2001 and currently holds the position as Professor of the Faculty of Science and Engineering, Konan University. He received the Nishina Award in 1973, the Matsunaga Award in 1975, the Asahi Scientific Subsidy in 1983, the First Award for Essay on Gravitation in 1985, and the Medal of Purple Ribbon in 1999. Dr. Sato has published approximately 140 papers on Astrophysics, the Theory of General Relativity, the Theory of an Expanding Universe, as well as numerous technical books.


Tetsuya Sato
Professor, Director-General, The Earth Simulator Center, Japan Marine Science and Technology Center (JAMSTEC)

Dr. Sato graduated from the Department of Electronics, Faculty of Engineering, Kyoto University in 1963. After working as assistant professor in the Faculty of Science, Kyoto University, he became associate professor in 1974 and Professor of Hiroshima University in 1980. He was professor at the National Institute for Fusion Science since 1989, and has served as the Director of Theory and Computer Simulation Center. Since 2002, he has been The Director-General of The Earth Simulator Center, Japan Marine Science and Technology Center. He is a recipient of the 1975 Tanakadate Award and the 1986 Nishina Memorial Award.


S. Settar

S. Settar’s fields of research include Indian archaeology, history, art history, history of religions, philosophy and classical literature. He is formerly Professor of History and Archaeology, Director of the Institute of Indian Art History and Chairman of Indian Council of Historical Research.


H. N. Shankar

H. N. Shankar is Assistant Professor at Department of Electronics/Communication, PES Institute of Technology in Bangalore, India.


Anindya Sinha

Anindya Sinha is currently a Fellow of NIAS. A botanist by degree, his past research involved the biochemical genetics of carbohydrate metabolism in yeast. Currently his areas of interest are in areas of behavioral ecology and cognitive psychology of primates, evolutionary biology, conservation biology and the philosophy of biology.


René Samuel Sirat

René SamuelSirat is the Chief Rabbi of the Central Consistory of France.


B. V. Sreekantan

B. V. Sreekantan has been Director of Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and is currently Visiting Professor at NIAS. His research interests have been in cosmic rays, high energy physics and high energy astrophysics. He has a particular interest in philosophy of science and scientific and philosophical studies on consciousness.


Sharada Srinivasan

Sharada Srinivasan is a DST-SERC Young Scientist Awardee at NIAS in the field of Archaeomettalurgy and Archaeomaterials. She has been pupil of Bharata Natyam, or classical Indian dance.


Jean Staune

Jean Staune is Founder and General Secretary of the Interdisciplinary University of Paris. He is Assistant Professor of Philosophy of Sciences at the MBA of the Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales and a member of the John Templeton Foundation Board of Advisors and ESSSAT. His research focuses on philosophical and social implications of new scientific discoveries.


M. S. Swaminathan

A plant geneticist by training, M. S. Swaminathan’s contributions to the agricultural renaissance of India led to his being widely regarded as one of the scientific leaders of the Green Revolution movement. His advocacy of sustainable agriculture makes him an acknowledged world leader in the field of sustainable food security. He is President of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs.


Ahmed Toufiq

Ahmed Toufiq is Historian and Director of the King Abdul-Aziz Al Saoud Foundation for Islamic Studies and Human Sciences in Casablanca. He is the Director of the National Library, and has formerly held the position of Director of the Institute of African Studies at Mohammed V University in Rabat, Morocco. Prof. Toufiq is the author of several works relating to this field, including a large number of articles and publications in national and international newspapers and periodicals. He is also professor at the Faculty of Human Sciences in Rabat.


C. S. Unnikrishnan

C. S. Unnikrishnan is presently Reader at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (Mumbai), Adjunct Professor at Indian Institute of Astrophysics (Bangalore), Faculty Associate at Centre for Philosophy and Foundations of Science (Delhi) and Visiting Professor Ecole Normale Superieure (Paris). His research interests are in fundamental aspects of physical theories and their experimental tests.


M. S. Valiathan

M. S. Valiathan is currently President of the Indian National Science Academy. A surgeon, he has spent over 25 years practicing and teaching cardiac surgery and the development of technology for cardiovascular applications. He is an admirer of the traditional systems of knowledge and Sanskrit.


P. G. Vaidya

With a Ph.D. in Acoustics, P. G. Vaidya has worked at Lockheed, Boeing and NASA. His research interests are Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos, Nonlinear Signal Processing, Image Processing, Speaker Identification and Modeling of ECG and Cancer.


K. VijayRaghavan

K. VijayRaghavan is Professor at the National Center for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. His research interests are in the area of genetics and developmental biology.


Graham Walker

Graham Walker is a physician and a member of the Royal Academy of Physicians, London.

Sukeyasu Steven Yamamoto
Director, International House
The Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN)
Professor Emeritus, University of Tokyo

Dr. Yamamoto was born on Aug. 11, 1931 in Tokyo, Japan. He graduated from Yale University with a BS in physics, and received a PhD in experimental nuclear physics from Yale in 1959. After six years at Brookhaven National Laboratory he became a professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. In 1970 he returned to Japan to successive professorships at the University of Tokyo, Kanagawa University, and Sophia University. Dr. Yamamoto is currently part-time Director of International House, RIKEN (Institute of Physical and Chemical Research), Wako-shi, Saitama-ken, Japan. His research is in the field of strong interaction searching for new particles as well as the mechanism of particle production, and of weak interaction studying the decay mechanism of particles and searching for rare decays of neutral K long mesons. Active in the Episcopal Church since 1954, Dr. Yamamoto has in recent years had been drawn to Roman Catholicism and was received into the Roman Catholic Church in 1997.


Shohei Yonemoto
President, Center of Life Science and Society
Mitsubishi Kasei Institute of Life Science

Dr. Yonemoto graduated from the Faculty of Science, Kyoto University with a major in biology. His current specialties are History and Philosophy of Science. He has held the position of President of the Center of Life Science and Society since 1999. Dr. Yonemoto has published extensively on bioethics and global environment. He is a member of the Industrial Structure Council Global Environment Sub-committee, visiting researcher at Tsukuba Advanced Research Alliance, and visiting professor at the Faculty of Medicine, Shinshu University. He has also served as Councilor of the Provisional Commission for the Study on Brain Death and Organ Transplant. He is very much in demand as a lecturer at conferences and forums. He was a member of the Bhutan Academic Investigation Team of Kyoto University in 1969, and a member of the Kyoto University Himalayan Medical Science Mountaineering Team.


Ahmed Hassan Zewail
California Institute of Technology

Born in Egypt, Dr. Zewail received his first PhD from the University of Alexandria and his second from the University of Pennsylvania. In 1974 he accepted a professorship at the California Institute of Technology. In 1999 Dr. Zewail was awarded a Nobel Prize in Chemistry. His research is devoted to the development of ultrafast lasers and electrons for studies of dynamics with atomic-scale resolution in the field of femtosecond (10 -15 second) processes in chemistry and in related fields of physics and biology.