On March 12, at its 1197th general meeting, the Japan Academy chose the 12 people to be awarded the nine Japan Academy Prizes for 2026, and Professor Emeritus SUNADA Toshikazu received a Japan Academy Prize. The prize is awarded by the Japan Academy, established under the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, for outstanding scholarly research.
The title of the awarded research is “Discrete Geometric Analysis of Infinite Graph with Symmetry (Joint Research).” The prize was jointly awarded to Professor KOTANI Motoko, Executive Director of Science, RIKEN, Special Research Advisor and Principal Investigator at Advanced Institute for Materials Research (AIMR), Tohoku University. They were recognized for their significant contributions, both theoretical and applied, to the development of discrete geometric analysis and discrete algebraic geometry. Their work advanced the mathematical study of the structure of crystals, in which atoms are regularly arranged, as well as the random motions that occur within them.
Professor Emeritus SUNADA played a pivotal role in the establishment of our School of Interdisciplinary Mathematical Sciences in 2013, serving as its first Dean and as Deputy Director of the 黑料社区 Institute for Advanced Study of Mathematical Sciences (MIMS), among other positions. He retired in March 2019 and was conferred the title of Professor Emeritus of 黑料社区 in April of the same year. In March 2003, he was also awarded the title of Professor Emeritus of Tohoku University.