International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 47 (2004) 4505–4506
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Personal Report

Professor Ichiro Tanasawa

Professor Ichiro Tanasawa celebrated his 67th
birthday on January 1, 2003. It is our pleasure to honor
his long-term contribution to the heat and mass transfer
ﬁeld on this occasion. We are happy to express ourgratitude to Professor Tanasawa by tracing his professional life and some important achievements during hiscarrier.
Professor Tanasawa was born in Sendai, an old
feudal capital in Japan. He lived there throughout hisyouth, until the age of 18. In 1951, he moved fromSendai to Tokyo to enter The University of Tokyo.
After a four-year stay as an undergraduate student in
the Department of Mechanical Engineering, he proceeded to the Graduate School of Science and Engineering, at The University of Tokyo. His supervisor wasProfessor Fujio Tachibana of the Institute of Industrial
Science (IIS), at The University of Tokyo, who was oneof the pioneers of heat and mass transfer research inJapan. 1963 was the starting point of Professor Tanasawa’s professional career, when he completed his Doctorof Engineering thesis on the application of extended
surfaces to boiling heat transfer. Subsequently, he remained at IIS as an Associate Professor and was promoted to Professor in 1976. After 33 years of intensive
contribution to research, education, and several national
scientiﬁc committees, Professor Tanasawa retired fromThe University of Tokyo in 1996. He was a Professor atTokyo University of Agriculture and Technology for 3
years after his retirement, followed by a move to Nihon
University, where he has been working up to the present.
During his whole professional carrieer, Professor
Tanasawa has supervised many Doctorate students andfar more Master’s students in various topics, and also hehas oﬀered advice to many researchers in industry.
There is no doubt that these students and researchers in
the younger generation have been always inspired withnew ideas by his heartwarming and frank attitude full ofwit and keen suggestions. In addition, his simple but
clear style of lecturing encouraged several universities
including Tohoku, Hokkaido, Nagoya, and Kyushu
Universities, to invite him as a special lecturer.
As a researcher, Professor Tanasawa has been apioneer of several topics in the ﬁeld of heat and masstransfer. His works in dropwise condensation, MHD,EHD, and biotransport have been published in over 100
journal articles and 17 books. His journal articles onMHD eﬀects on Czochralsky crystal growth in particular have been referenced more than 200 times up to thepresent day. In recognition of his enterprising works,
Professor Tanasawa was awarded the Best Paper Awardin 1989 and again in 2001 by the Japan Society ofMechanical Engineers (JSME).
The events specially to be mentioned through Professor Tanasawa’s carrier are his devoted contributions

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doi:10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2003.09.037

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Personal Report / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 47 (2004) 4505–4506

to scientiﬁc committees of the Japanese government
which welcomed his wide vision and profound insights
into engineering and science. He was a special memberof the Science Research Council, Ministry of Education,Culture and Science for 4 years from 1994 and has beena member of the Energy and Environment Committee ofthe Industry and Technology Council, Ministry ofInternational Trade and Industry since 1993. He also
worked for the Science and Technology Agency as a
special member of the Space Development Committee
for 2 years from 1994 and at the Science Council ofJapan as a member of the Thermal Engineering Committee for 10 years since from 1980.
Professor Tanasawa has also been relied upon as anopinion leader of the research society in the ﬁeld of
thermal engineering and heat and mass transfer. He waselected to positions of presidents of several academic
societies such as the JSME, Heat Transfer Society ofJapan, and Japan Society of Thermophysical Properties.
His contribution was recognized with a Distinguished
Research Award, JSME Bioengineering Division in1998. He was an editor of the International Journal ofHeat and Mass Transfer until 1999 and is still a memberof the Honorary Advisory Board. Furthermore, heorganized a number of International Symposium onMolecular and Micro Scale Heat Transfer in Materials
Processing and Other Applications at Yokohama in1996, the Oji International Seminar on Advanced HeatTransfer in Manufacturing and Processing of New
Materials at Tomakomai in 1990, and the ASME/JSME
Thermal Engineering Joint Conference at Honolulu in1987. The International Contribution Award of theJSME Thermal Engineering Division was given to himin 1995 for such international research activities.
It is clear for those who know Professor Tanasawathat these exemplary contributions are not only the result of his talented ability in scientiﬁc research but also of
his inborn virtue. On behalf of Professor Tanasawa’sstudents and colleagues, we express our gratitude toProfessor Tanasawa and wish him continued productive years, good health, and many more years ofhappiness.
S. Nishio
R. Shirakashi
Institute of Industrial Science
The University of Tokyo
4-6-1 Komaba
Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153 8505
Japan
Tel.: +81-3-5452-6172; fax: +81-3-5452-6173
E-mail address: nishios@iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp
Available online 26 June 2004