This lecture was delivered June 26, 2002, Orlando, FL, upon giving of the Society for In Vitro Biology (SIVB) Lifetime Achievement Award to Dr. Gordon H. Sato. Dr. Sato was born in Los Angeles, CA, and his family was relocated to Camp Manzanar, CA as a result of internment of American citizens of Japanese descent after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. His undergraduate training was at the University of Southern California and he obtained a Ph.D. degree at the California Institute of Technology in 1955 with Nobel Prize winner Max Delbruck. After post-doctoral training, he was Professor of Biochemistry at Brandeis University. From 1970 to 1983, Dr. Sato was Professor of Biology at University of California-San Diego. In 1982, he became director of the W. Alton Jones Cell Science Center in Lake Placid, NY. Dr. Sato is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, and has served as SIVB President and Editor-in-Chief of the SIVB journal, In Vitro Cellular and Developmental Biology - Animal. Since 1993, Dr. Sato has devoted himself full-time to the humanitarian effort called 'The Manzanar Project,' named after the camp where his family was interned. The Manzanar Project (http://www.tamu.edu/ccbn/dewitt/manzanar/default.htm) is a global action project offering simple, practical and effective solutions to the planet's most critical problems that include reduction of poverty, hunger, environmental pollution, and global warming through seawater aquaculture and silvaculture in deserts. Its working prototype is located in the Republic of Eritrea. After delivery of this lecture, Dr. Sato was named a 2002 Laureate of the Rolex Awards for Enterprise (http://www.rolexawards.com). The Rolex awards are given to visionary individuals whose unique work impacts the entire planet and human condition.
