Ryuichi Kitamura Fund
Over the span of 30 years, Ryuichi Kitamura left an indelible mark on the transportation profession through his contributions in the areas of activity-based analysis, travel demand modeling, time-use research, dynamic analysis of travel behavior, travel survey methods, and transportation policy studies. Ryuichi’s profound influence on the field has shaped the life and work of legions of researchers who will carry forward his legacy for generations to come. With his passing the world has lost a wonderful researcher, teacher, mentor and human being.
The Kitamura family, together with the two universities at which Ryuichi spent his career – UC Davis and Kyoto University – have established the Ryuichi Kitamura Fund in support of graduate student scholarship and exchange of ideas in the field of travel behavior research. The fund will be administered by the UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies, as directed by a steering committee comprising representatives of the Kitamura family, the two universities, Ryuichi’s students, and the transportation community at large.
Income from the fund will be used to recognize outstanding travel behavior scholarship by students anywhere in the world, and foster greater intellectual and cultural exchange between the East and the West, consonant with Ryuichi’s own career.
A cash prize will be awarded to the student winners of the annual Transportation Research Board Ryuichi Kitamura Paper Award, following presentation of the paper to a UC Davis audience. The amount of the prize will grow as the fund grows. Travel support for student award winners is available through the Patricia Mokhtarian Award for Travel Behavior.
Once the fund reaches a sustainable level, it will also help support the expenses of a young scholar in travel behavior research (or a closely-related field) at a university in the East to collaborate with researchers at any University of California campus with a transportation program, or conversely. Graduate and undergraduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and untenured faculty will be eligible for this support, with preference for students.
We would be honored if you would join us in supporting this effort. Through the generosity of the Kitamura family, Springer Publishing, and Cynthia Chen with Haiyun Lin, several mementos of Ryuichi are available as tokens of our appreciation for your gift (ITS-Davis staff will contact you regarding your preference):
- A book of photographs taken by Ryuichi or a special issue of the journal Transportation compiled in Ryuichi’s memory (minimum donation $100)
- A collection of tributes and photographs of Ryuichi with other people, contributed by the international community shortly after his passing (downloadable PDF file only; minimum donation $50)
- A set of six note cards made from photos Ryuichi took (minimum donation $25)
Gifts at all levels are welcome, including pledges (up to five years), planned gifts, and gifts of stock or real property. For more information on making a gift or pledge, please contact Taylor Shinnick at 530-752-6548 or tkshinnick@ucdavis.edu.
Thank you in advance for your partnership in memorializing Ryuichi’s legacy.
Steering Committee
Yoshiko Kitamura, Honorary Chair; Patricia Mokhtarian, Georgia Institute of Technology; Satoshi Fujii, Kyoto University; Ram Pendyala, Arizona State University; Toshiyuki Yamamoto, Nagoya University; Kostas Goulias, University of California, Santa Barbara; Cynthia Chen, University of Washington; Martin Lee-Gosselin, Laval University, Canada; Kay W. Axhausen, ETH – Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich
Give Now
Ryuichi Kitamura Fund Gift and Pledge Form
TRB Ryuichi Kitamura Paper Award
2009 Symposium in Honor of Ryuichi Kitamura
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