Professor Ernest Czogala Memorial Issue Part 1
Authors: Hayashi Yoichi ,   Guest Editor of Professor Ernest Czogala memorial issueDept. of Computer Science Meiji University1-1-1 Higashimita, Tama-ku Kawasaki 214-8571, Japan
Published: April 2016

As you may know from recent e-mail, BUSEFAL Vo1.76, Obituary, and Fuzzy Sets and Systems (FSS), Vo1.104, No.2, Obituary, Prof. Ernest Czogala passed away on October 8, 1998. First, I would like to express my sincere condolences to his eldest daughter Theresa Czogala-Koczy and son. The call for papers for this special issue has been answered from all over the globe. This issue includes the first seven accepted. The next issue will include those remaining. Since a formal obituary was provided by Professor Witold Pedrycz, a student of Ernest, in FSS as indicated above, I will add a few words of my own here. I first met Prof. Czogala when I was a visiting professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Department of Computer and Information Sciences in 1990-1991. He was visiting the Mathematics Department, working with Professor James J. Buckley. When I first met Ernest, I intuitively felt that he, Jim (Prof. Buckley), and I would accomplish outstanding work in the near future. I promised to invite Ernest and Jim to Ibaraki University Department of Computer and Information Sciences in summer 1991. After my sabbatical at UAB, I received a letter from Ernest, asking, "Could I really visit your university for a month?" I immediately sent a formal invitation letter to Ernest and Jim. Ernest purchased an airline ticket between Poland and Japan - a princely sum equal to 6 months of his salary! He arrived August 19, 1991, at Narita Airport around 07:30 aboard All Nippon Airways from Poland via Wien. I drove a Toyota Camry to Narita from Hitachi City, Ibaraki Prefecture - a 2.5-hour excited jaunt. My wife Madoka and I went to pick him up. He appeared easygoing, shod in flip-flops. Madoka and I took him to Narita-san Temple - and found he had only 50 DM with him! After spending a few hours at Narita-san and eating lunch, Jim arrived from Birmingham. We picked him up and returned to Hitachi. Ibaraki University has a very old-fashioned guesthouse - but it only cost 700 a day. The next day, a coup d'etat shook Moscow. Ernest applauded, saying "Poland will be free." From that day, we started our cooperative research in an un-air-conditioned office at Ibaraki University Department of Computer and Information Sciences. Outside, it was over 35°C, which made it 38°C in the office. During his stay, we wrote many papers. One recently appeared carefully selected based on the Science Citation Index, "On the Equivalence of Neural Nets and Fuzzy Expert Systems," FSS, Vol. 100 Supplement, pp. 145-150 (1999). This short proof paper was outstanding. The original paper was submitted to Professor H.-J. Zimmermann, Founding Editor of FSS, in 1991. The paper was soon revised, accepted for publication in 1992, and published January 25, 1993. We have published many journals and refereed International Conference papers. I recollect papers worked on with Ernest. They include: 1. Hayashi, Y, Buckley, J.J. and Czogala, E., Systems Engineering Applications of Fuzzy Neural Networks, Journal of Systems Engineering, Vol.2, pp.232-236 (1992). 2. Buckley, J.J., Hayashi, Y and Czogala, E., On the Equivalence of Neural Nets and Fuzzy Expert Systems, Fuzzy Sets and Systems, Vo1.53, No.2, pp.129-134 (1993). 3. Hayashi, Y, Buckley, J.J. and Czogala, E., Fuzzy Neural Network with Fuzzy Signals and Weights, International Journal of Intelligent Systems, Vol.8, pp.527-537 (1993). In 1995, Ernest came to Yokohama, Japan, to present his paper at FUZZIEEE/IFES'95. Madoka, my 2-year-old son Yuichiro and I met him and ate Chinese lunch together. We promised to meet again. In 1997, I met him again at Barcelona for FUZZ-IEEE'97. He asked about the amount of grants I had applied for. I replied 700 million for three years. "That's beyond all belief!" Unfortunately, my request was not met... Ernest, Jim, and I would have liked to have a delicious beer commemorating the FSS Vo1.100 Supplement. But although we never got to share that beer, the papers - the fruit of great efforts - never died. I believe our publication will continue to be referenced by many researchers all over the world. The FSS paper also symbolizes the position of associate professor for me at Ibaraki University. I was 34 years old at the time. Those of you wanting to get in touch with Ernest's oldest daughter are asked to send inquiries to the following address: Theresa Czogala-Koczy ul. Kochanowskiego 29-15 44-100 Gliwice, Poland We thank Drs. Toshio Fukuda and Kaoru Hirota, Editors in Chief of the JACI, for accepting my proposal for this special issue. Special thanks also go to the referees for their kind cooperation, devotion, and rigorous review! We also thank Mr. Yasushi Inoue for his excellent management of the editorial work.