I am honored and grateful for having had the opportunity to serve as the President of IAPR for the 1992-94 term. It was one of my more satisfying professional experiences. In the following I describe a few reminiscences.

The initiation of the Fellow Program of the IAPR was one of the highlights of my tenure. I touched the lives of 35 new fellows.  The presentation ceremony took place immediately after the Bedouin Feast held in conjunction with ICPR 1994. It was a surrealistic scenario – in the middle of the desert, very little light, I was reading the citations under highly improvised lighting. The program was created and administered by the Fellow Committee under the leadership of Professor Saburo Tsuji, IAPR Fellow. The citations and the names were hand printed in Austin, Texas USA, framed in Jerusalem, Israel, and distributed in the desert.

Dr. Masakazu Ejiri, IAPR Fellow, chaired the Industrial Liaison Committee and initiated an Industrial Affiliates Membership Program. This program enhanced our visibility with industry and provided an important link between academia and industrial research in pattern recognition.

Other important business transacted during the 1992-94 period included:

The abolition of the “individual” membership category;

Amendment of voting procedures to permit voting by email and fax for Executive decisions;

The creation of permanent award for the best industrial paper selected by the Industrial Liaison Committee;

The formalization of the procedures for the sponsorship of conferences and workshops and the distribution of IAPR  funds for such activities;

The creation of a new Technical Committee on Image Processing;

IAPR sponsorship of the journal Machine Vision and Applications and the improved distribution of the journal Pattern Recognition Letters to individual IAPR members.

The highlight of any president’s tenure is the ICPR, which in my case was the 12th ICPR in Jerusalem. The ICPR in Jerusalem was an outstanding success. In addition to the exchange of technical information that is the hallmark of any ICPR, the visits to the cultural and historic sites, the Bedouin feast, and the visit to the show at Masada were truly memorable. The sites, sounds, and food of Jerusalem added to the success of the ICPR.   At a more personal level, my wife Shanti and I took a two week tour of Israel after the end of the ICPR in Jerusalem. It provided a view of Israel that I shall never forget. We visited many places including: Sea of Galilee (Lake Kinereth), Tagbha (Miracle of Loaves and Fishes), Golan Heights, Kibbutz Hago Shrim, Safed, Haifa, and Tel Aviv. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Drs. Shimon Ullman, Shmuel Peleg and Y. Yeshuran for making ICPR 1994 a success.

Another highlight of any Presidency is the award of the K.S. Fu Prize. Professor Herbert Freeman, IAPR Fellow, received the K.S. Fu Prize at the ICPR in Jerusalem. Professor Martin Levine, IAPR Fellow, was the Chairman of the committee that recommended Professor H. Freeman to the Governing Board. The award was made at a special session of the ICPR. Professor Freeman gave a talk entitled “How Does a Computer Perceive a Line Drawing”. I believe that after the excellent talk by Professor Freeman, it became customary for the K. S. Fu Prize winner to give a seminar on their research.

I like to reminisce about a dinner while Michael Duff, IAPR Fellow, was President of IAPR and I was the Treasurer. We had a meeting of the Executive Committee in London.  After the meeting, Michael and Susan Duff invited the Committee to their home for dinner. It was a great English dinner. Professor Steve Tanimoto, IAPR Fellow, and I really remember it well. It was very gracious and kind of Duffs to invite us all to their home.

My association with IAPR has been a satisfying experience both at the professional and personal levels. At the professional level I have achieved world wide recognition. In addition, Shanti and I have visited almost every part of the world and we have been honored guests at fabulous dinners and parties.

Also, I like to express my sincere thanks to my Executive Committee including Michael Duff (Past President) Dr. Gunilla Borgefors, IAPR Fellow (Secretary), Professor Steve Tanimoto (Treasurer ), and Professor Saburo Tsuji (Vice President). Their support made a success of my presidency. Another person who contributed significantly to my success was my assistant Ms. Debi Paxton. She helped me during the time I served as the treasurer as well the president. It is pleasure to acknowledge her support.

INSIDE the IAPR

Reminiscences of J.K. Aggarwal, IAPR Fellow,

IAPR President 1994-94

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

by J.K. Aggarwal (USA)