Rotary International President Sakuji Tanaka of Japan is visiting Oak Ridge March 8-9 as the featured speaker during a Peace Through Science and Technology Conference.
Tanaka selected Rotary's 2013 theme of "Peace through Service" following a recent trip to Africa.
"I saw children who did not have food and people who did not have access to education or health," Tanaka said during his visit to the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory. "I think of those people who are handicapped and have difficult situations and I think what can I do to create peace for them. Rotary International is currently involved in a lot of different activities to create peace."
Accompanying Tanaka during his visit to ORNL, East Tennessee Rotary District Gov. Jack Bailey said Oak Ridge is an ideal location for Tanaka to expound upon his service theme.
"Mr. Tanaka is hosting a series of international peace forums this year and the bells and whistles went off with the history of the Manhattan Project," Bailey said. "We extended an invitation to come to Oak Ridge and be the keynote speaker at our forum."
Tanaka received briefing during visits to several technology areas at ORNL. He was also scheduled to ring the peace bell - a gift from Japan to Oak Ridge - in Oak Ridge's Bissell Park during his visit.
UT-Battelle manages ORNL for the Department of Energy's Office of Science. DOE's Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit http://energy.gov/science.