Top Philanthropic Donors: Paul Ichiro Terasaki

Paul Ichiro Terasaki, born September 10, 1929, is a noted scientist in the field of human organ transplant technology and Professor Emeritus of Surgery at UCLA School of Medicine.

Born in the Boyle Heights section of Los Angeles, Mr. Terasaki was 12 when his family, like many Japanese-Americans in the 1940s, was forced by the federal government to live in an internment camp during World War II. After the war ended, the family moved from the Gila River camp, in Arizona, to Chicago, but eventually returned to Southern California in 1948.  Later he earned his doctorate in zoology at UCLA and was appointed to the medical school faculty.

In 1964, Terasaki developed the microcytotoxicity test, a tissue-typing test for organ transplant donors and recipients that required only 1 microliter each of antisera used to identify human leukocyte antigens (HLA). The test was adopted as the international standard for tissue typing. He has focused on study of the humoral theory of transplant rejection, which states that antibodies cause allograft rejection. He and his corporation, One Lambda, have played a central role in the development of tissue typing and transplantation surgery.

Terasaki established UCLA's HLA laboratory, and also established the UCLA Kidney Transplant Registry, the largest in the world. In 1999, he retired from UCLA, but within a year resumed his academic pursuits with the creation of the Terasaki Foundation, a research center dedicated to cancer immunotherapy and the study of humoral immunity and transplantation.

On May 13, 2010, UCLA announced the naming of the new life science building for Terasaki, who has given $50 million to the Division of Life Sciences in the UCLA College of Letters and Science, which is the largest ever given to the UCLA College. The structure is known as the Terasaki Life Sciences Building. He was awarded the 2011 UCLA Edward A. Dickson Alumnus of the Year award on April 13, 2012 and the UCLA medal on June 15, 2012.

Paul Terasaki is married to artist Hisako Terasaki; they have four children.

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