New Delhi: Google on Sunday paid tribute to Japanese statistician Hirotugu Akaike on his 90th birthday with a doodle on its homepage.The doodle featured a portrait of Dr Akaike against the backdrop of an approximation of functions, parameters, and their respective curves. Hirotugu Akaike was a Japanese statistician who developed the famous Akaike information criterion (AIC) which is used for statistical analysis. Here are some lesser known facts about him:
  • For Dr. Hirotugu Akaike's huge contribution to statistical science, Hirotugu Akaike was awarded the Kyoto Prize,  which is Japan's highest private award for global achievement,in 2006.
  • He was also awarded the Purple Ribbon Medal and the Asahi Prize, which are two of the highest honours in culture and science in Japan.
  • Dr. Hirotugu Akaike passed away on August 4, 2009 at the age of 81.
  • Dr. Akaike was never satisfied with his past achievements and always tried new research collaborated with diverse areas.
  • Dr Akaike was a researcher at The Institute of Statistical Mathematics (Technical Official of the Ministry of Education) in 1952.
  • Dr. Akaike’s great passion to his research urged him to continue tackling with his new work even when he was sick on bed.
  • Dr. Akaike's research became the pioneering role for the development of new processing system for time of large scale information.