My Mentors from My University Days | Ikuyo Kaneko (Dean, Graduate School of Media and Governance)
2009.09.17
The newspapers and television have been abuzz with the birth of Japan's first prime minister with a "true engineering background." Riding on the coattails of the news of "Prime Minister Hatoyama's inauguration," "operations research" has become a topic of conversation for the first time in a while, which I am personally delighted about. I earned my Ph.D. from Stanford's Department of Operations Research around the same time as Yukio Hatoyama, but the foundation and motivation for my academic career, which has specialized in applied mathematics for over a decade since graduating from Stanford, were entirely cultivated by two mentors I met at Keio University's Faculty of Engineering.
At Keio Senior High School, I was only enthusiastic about the activities of the English Speaking Society and had no particular interest in my studies. I entered the Faculty of Engineering simply because industrial engineering, a newly emerging field at the time, seemed novel. However, that changed when I met Professor Toshikazu Nishino in my third year and suddenly fell in love with mathematics. Professor Nishino was a hardcore mathematician who was researching the construction of innovative free market theories based on the work of Scarf and Arrow, which was fashionable at the time. He was cool, like an older brother. He taught me the basics of topology one-on-one, like an "apprenticeship." It was the first time I had ever studied mathematics seriously, but he took me seriously. When it comes to mathematical proofs, in a sense, both experts and students can "compete" based on the "beauty" of the proof. We would "race" to solve example problems together, and on very rare occasions, I "won." Looking back, I think he "let me win." I was so happy.
When I became a fourth-year student, Tatsuo Kawata, who had been a central figure in establishing the mathematics department when Keio created the Faculty of Science and Technology, came to Keio from The Catholic University of America and taught a class on functional analysis. I was fortunate enough to take that class. It was so cool because a theorem proven by Professor Kawata was included in the English textbook on analysis. Having gained some confidence in mathematics through my training with Professor Nishino, I was brought down a peg by Professor Kawata. He gave us homework many times during the semester. On my first paper, he wrote in red ink, "I can't believe you're doing university-level mathematics like this. Start over from the basics." Every time, he would fill my answer sheets with so many notes and warnings that they turned bright red. Spurred on by this, by the end of the course, I started to receive a little praise. Since then, having become a faculty member at universities in Japan and the US, I make it a point to return students' papers and draft articles with as many comments as possible. I am imitating Professor Kawata.
(Posted: 2009/09/17)