Masakazu Konishi

Early life and education Konishi was born on February 17, 1933, in Kyoto, Japan, the only child of poor "Nishijin" weavers. As a child during the Second World War, he grew edible plants in his family's backyard and rooftop, and raised rabbits for food. Instead, he completed his PhD under ethologist Peter Marler, who had also recently arrived at the institution. His work, together with that of fellow PhD student Fernando Nottebohm, "laid the foundation for the discovery of the avian song control system by Nottebohm in the 1970s and the remarkable development of the field of birdsong neurobiology." He then returned to the United States, working at the University of Wisconsin (1965–66) and later at Princeton University (1966–75). He also investigated the development of hearing in duck embryos.

Konishi was a leader in the field of avian neuroethology and a foremost expert in avian auditory systems. Throughout his career, he advised dozens of graduate students and postdoctoral researchers. Katz introduced brain slice techniques into Konishi's lab.

Awards F. O. Schmitt Prize (1987) International Prize for Biology (1990) Lewis S. Rosenstiel Award (2003, Brandeis University) Edward M. Scolnick Prize in Neuroscience (2004, MIT) Gerard Prize (2004, Society for Neuroscience) Karl Spencer Lashley Award (2004, American Philosophical Society) Gruber Prize in Neuroscience (2005, Society for Neuroscience)