Introducing Dr. Shoogo Ueno, honored recipient of the 12th d'Arsonval medal conferred by the bioelectromagnetics society, 2010

Abstract

It is a privilege to introduce the 12th recipient of the d'Arsonval Medal, Dr. Shoogo Ueno. The d'Arsonval Medal is the highest honor bestowed by the Bioelectromagnetics Society (BEMS) and is awarded for extraordinary accomplishments in the field of bioelectromagnetics. Dr. Ueno's accomplishments indeed have been extraordinary and he presents a summary of his extensive scientific theories and findings in his following article entitled “Studies on Magnetism and Bioelectromagnetics for 45 Years: From Magnetic Analog Memory to Human Brain Stimulation and Imaging.” In this introduction, I will mention just a few of the highlights of his career. Dr. Ueno received his PhD in 1972 in electronic engineering from Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan, and then served as an associate professor at the same university from 1976 to 1986. From 1979 to 1981, he was on sabbatical with the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Linkoping University, Sweden. Beginning in 1986, he served for 8 years as a professor in the Department of Electronics at Kyushu University. In 1994, he moved to the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Graduate School of Medicine at the University of Tokyo, where he worked for the next 12 years. During this period it was my honor to speak at Dr. Ueno's laboratory and to have the unique experience of seeing my arm and fingers involuntarily move through space from transcranial magnetic stimulation by his figure-eight magnetic coil. In 2006 Dr. Ueno retired from the University of Tokyo and returned to Fukuoka, both as a professor in the Department of Applied Quantum Physics at Kyushu University, and as a dean of the Faculty of Medical Technology at Teikyo University. Dr. Ueno has authored well over 200 publications and presented over 70 invited lectures. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Electronic and Electrical Engineers and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. Dr. Ueno has received a great many other honors and awards and has provided significant service to the bioelectromagnetics community, not the least of which was his tenure as President of the Bioelectromagnetics Society from 2003 to 2004. In fact, it was while he was President of BEMS that he solicited me to run for election to the Board of Directors and, subsequently, President of the Society. I close this introduction by citing the wording from the illuminated testimonial provided to Dr. Ueno on the occasion of his being conferred the d'Arsonval Medal. “The Board of Directors of the Bioelectromagnetics Society takes great pleasure in conferring the d'Arsonval Medal to Shoogo Ueno for his extraordinary creativity and accomplishments in bioelectromagnetics, allowing us to image and study the very origins of sensation, thought, and action. His discoveries have elucidated new dimensions and resolutions of neurocartography and enabled hope for magnetic treatments of disorders of mind and body. As with Moses parting the waters, he has provided new means for discriminating the whisperings of the cells above the surrounding cacophony. For these and other discoveries and for honoring us with his extensive service to the Bioelectromagnetics Society, we humbly confer the Society's highest honor on this fifteenth day of June in the year 2010 in Seoul, Korea.” It is indeed a privilege and a pleasure for me to introduce the newest d'Arsonval Medalist of the Bioelectromagnetics Society, Dr. Shoogo Ueno.