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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
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
 
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
 
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
 
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
 
10     WHEREAS, Dr. Yokosawa was an avid tennis player and enjoyed
11 attending sporting events with his family; and
 
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
 
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
 
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.