Ikeda, Daisaku

Bryan Wilson, who died in 2004, was Emeritus Reader in Sociology in the University of Oxford. A formative influence on the sociology of religion in Britain, he made extensive contributions to the subject internationally, especially in the areas of sectarian religion and secularization. Daisaku Ikeda (1928-) is the President of Soka Gakkai International, a lay Buddhist organisation with some eleven million adherents in over 190 countries throughout the world. He is the author of over 80 books on Buddhist themes, and received the United Nations Peace Award in 1983.