Keith Terasaki
Dr. Keith Kenji Terasaki, chairman of the board of the nonprofit Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation, died Dec. 22, 2024, in Houston. He was 68.
A son of the late philanthropists Hisako and Dr. Paul Terasaki — a pioneer in the field of organ transplant technology — Keith Terasaki had served as the chief of interventional radiologists for the Southern California Kaiser Permanente system.
In addition to serving as TIBI’s board chair, Terasaki was a board member of Little Tokyo Service Center, Wesley Health Center, Metropolitan YMCA of Los Angeles, Vista Del Mar Children’s Services, Colburn School of Music, TreePeople, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Japanese Institute of Sawtelle and the UCLA Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies.
Terasaki also helped with the completion of Little Tokyo’s Terasaki Budokan, thanks to a $3.5 million donation from Terasaki Family Foundation. For that, the LTSC, which operates the facility in partnership with the City of Los Angeles, named it to recognize Paul Terasaki, who died in 2016.
Keith Terasaki earned both his undergraduate and medical degrees from UCLA. He went on to train in general radiology at Los Angeles County-USC Hospital and interventional radiology at Stanford University. He was recognized early in his career with a Best Clinician Award, and toward the end of his medical career for his volunteer work on Skid Row, Kaiser awarded him its Top Physician Humanitarian Award.
Terasaki is survived by his wife, Cecilia Terasaki; his son, Paul Terasaki, and daughter, Susie Terasaki; siblings, Mark (Rindy) Terasaki, Taiji (Naoko) Terasaki and Emiko (Dan) Terasaki; and many nieces and nephews.
