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| 1 | SENATE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to | ||||||
| 3 | learn of the death of Dr. Akihiko "Aki" Yokosawa of Naperville, | ||||||
| 4 | who passed away on May 25, 2009; and
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| 5 | WHEREAS, He was born in Kofu, Japan, into a centuries-old | ||||||
| 6 | prominent samurai family, and grew up in Sendai, where he | ||||||
| 7 | graduated from Tohoku University; in his youth, he earned a 2nd | ||||||
| 8 | degree black belt in traditional jukendo, a rare and | ||||||
| 9 | challenging martial art that combines judo with sword fighting; | ||||||
| 10 | and | ||||||
| 11 | WHEREAS, He later earned his doctorate in physics at Ohio | ||||||
| 12 | State University and became a member of Sigma Xi, an elite | ||||||
| 13 | scientific research society that honors excellence in | ||||||
| 14 | scientific investigation; and | ||||||
| 15 | WHEREAS, In 1954, Dr. Yokosawa joined the teaching staff at | ||||||
| 16 | Illinois State University in Normal, where he became the | ||||||
| 17 | youngest professor of physics at age 27; there he met his wife | ||||||
| 18 | of 51 years, Sirkka, who was studying English as a Fulbright | ||||||
| 19 | scholar from Finland; the couple married in Copenhagen in 1957; | ||||||
| 20 | and
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| 21 | WHEREAS, He went on to work as a high-energy nuclear | ||||||
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| 1 | physicist at Argonne National Laboratory from 1959 until | ||||||
| 2 | retiring in 2001; while at Argonne, Dr. Yokosawa advanced | ||||||
| 3 | research into the existence of a diproton, described as "a | ||||||
| 4 | six-quark object", and traveled extensively, conducting | ||||||
| 5 | experiments to that end; and
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| 6 | WHEREAS, In the 1990s, he headed a project that brought | ||||||
| 7 | scientists from around the world to Brookhaven National | ||||||
| 8 | Laboratory in New York to study measurements of polarized | ||||||
| 9 | beams; and
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| 10 | WHEREAS, Dr. Yokosawa was an avid tennis player and enjoyed | ||||||
| 11 | attending sporting events with his family; and
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| 12 | WHEREAS, Dr. Akihiko "Aki" Yokosawa is survived by his | ||||||
| 13 | wife, Sirkka; his sons, Martin and Kenneth; his daughter, Tina | ||||||
| 14 | Buhelos; his sister, Midori Tashiro; and his seven | ||||||
| 15 | grandchildren; therefore, be it
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| 16 | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL | ||||||
| 17 | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with | ||||||
| 18 | his family and friends, the passing of Dr. Akihiko Yokosawa; | ||||||
| 19 | and be it further
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| 20 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 21 | presented to the family of Dr. Akihiko Yokosawa as a symbol of | ||||||
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| 1 | our sincere sympathy.
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