User:Tomoyuki Yamakami
Dr. Tomoyuki Yamakami is an active researcher working in theoretical computer science as well as the foundations of mathematics. He has taught high schools and universities and also written numerous research papers since 1984. His contribution to theoretical computer science ranges from generic oracles to quantum advice. His brief biography is found in the subsequent section.
Biography
Early Days: 1961-1980
Tomoyuki Yamakami was born as the first son of Fujio and Yoshiko in 1961 in Suzaka City of Nagano Prefecture, which is located in the main island of Japan, only 16 years after the end of the World War II. He grew up in a rural farming area of Suzaka with his younger brother, Hiroshi, and younger sister, Naomi. Interestingly, he spent his leisure time reading novels and biographies of remarkable people. After finishing elementary education, he went on to Sumisaka Junior High School, which stands by the River Dodogawa. After graduation, he entered Suzaka Senior High School.
Leaving Hometown: 1980-1986
In April 1980, to recieve his higher education at the University of Tsukuba, he left his hometown for the first time to Ibaraki Prefecture, north of Tokyo (at present, one can take less than an hour train ride to the university), and began his quest of knowledge. Of all fields, he majored Mathematics in the end but he also studied various fields, including physics, literature, and ecomony. He graduated from the university in March 1984 with the degree of Bachelor of Science in Mathematics. His 1984 graduation thesis was adequately titled "Cardianl Number Theory," which is a branch of set theory.
Early Research Period: 1986-1992
Subsequently, he studied logics and proof theory at Shizuoka University, located in Sizuoka City, between April 1984 and March 1986. He received the degree of Master of Science in March 1986 with his thesis titled "On logic related to Prior's modal calculus Q." Immediately after his graduation, he took a full-time teaching position at Achi Senior High School. Although he eventually returned to a graduate school in Tokyo, he spent his whole time teaching mathematics at this small school.
At Rikyo University, he did research on computational complexity theory, a theoretical area of computer science. During his doctoral program, he also taught a calculus course at Toyo University. After completing his course work, he took the first university position as an Assistant Professor at Gunma University in April 1990. He paid a half-year long research visit at the Universität Ulm during 1991.
Living in North America: 1992-2005
In his pursuit of a Ph.D. degree, he once again left his teaching job in Novemebr 1992 and enrolled as a graduate student at the University of Toronto in Toronto, Canada. He stepped into Canadian soil for the first time on November 15 just after a heavy snow fall. At this point, he had no idea that he would end up staying in North America for another 13 years. His Ph.D. program began shortly in January 1993. The final degree, Ph.D. degree, was later awarded to him on June 9, 1997. His Ph.D. thesis, "Average Case Computational Complexity Theory," develops a general theory of the average-case behaviors of computations.
After a brief teachng at the University of Toronto, he took a postdoctoral position at Princeton University between September 1997 and June 1999. Since then, he taught at the University of Ottawa as Assistant Professor (1999-2003) and Trent University as Associate Professor (2003-2005). While he was in Princeton, his beloved grandmother, Nawo, passed away in Suzaka. His Ph.D. thesis is partly dedicated to her. A number of postdoctoral fellows were hosted by him at Ottawa and Trent.
Full Research Period: 2005-
In late June 2005, he moved back to Tokyo and joined a JST's ERATO Project on Quantum Computation and Information, which commenced in 2000. In April 2006, he moved to the University of Aizu in Fukushima Prefecture. Through all these years, he has been working on theoretical computer science and the foundations of mathematics.
Education
- Sumisaka Junior High School (1973-1976)
- Suzaka Senior High School (1976-1979)
- University of Tsukuba (1980-1984): Bachelor of Science (Mathematics)
- Shizuoka University (1984-1986): Master of Science (Mathematics)
- Rikyo University (1987-1990): Candidate for Doctor of Science
- University of Toronto (1993-1997): Ph.D. (Computer Science)
Academic Career
- Achi High School (1986-1987)
- Toyo University (1989-1990)
- Gunma University (1990-1992)
- University of Toronto (1997)
- Princeton University(1997-1999)
- University of Ottawa(1999-2003)
- Trent University (2003-2005)
- Japan Science and Technology Agency [JST] (2005-2006)
- University of Aizu (2006-)
External links
Home Page: http://tomoyukiyamakami.com/
--Tomoyuki Yamakami 18:46, 7 August 2006 (UTC)