On March 11, 2012 Dean Frank Gilliam and Professor and Chair of Urban Planning Lois Takahashi attended an event commemorating the one year anniversary of the Great Northern Japan Earthquake and Tsunami at the Forum for International Research Collaboration in Sendai, Japan. The goal was to bring together universities from around the world to discuss possible cooperation on issues of disaster preparedness and disaster science.
This week, Dean Gilliam and Chair Takahashi were invited back to Sendai to participate in the memorial symposium and opening ceremony for the International Institute of Disaster Science (IRIDeS).
Tohoku University recently founded the IRIDeS, and together with collaborating organizations from many countries, conducts world-leading research on natual disaster science and disaster mitigation. Dean Gilliam and Chair Takahashi were able to follow up on progress that was made since the March event, and also participate in the opening ceremony of the new institute.
The IRIDeS aims to become a world center for the study of the disasters and disaster mitigation, learning from past lessons in disaster management. UCLA is one of several Universities, including Harvard and Hawaii, committed to future conversations around questions of disaster risk, preparedness, and reilience.
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