Hirotugu Akaike, Japanese statistician (d. 2009)
Hirotugu Akaike (赤池 弘次, Akaike Hirotsugu, IPA: [akaike çiɾotsɯɡɯ], November 5, 1927 – August 4, 2009) was a Japanese statistician. In the early 1970s, he formulated the Akaike information criterion (AIC). AIC is now widely used for model selection, which is commonly the most difficult aspect of statistical inference; additionally, AIC is the basis of a paradigm for the foundations of statistics. Akaike also made major contributions to the study of time series. As well, he had a large role in the general development of statistics in Japan.