International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 51 (2008) 3257–3258

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International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijhmt

In MemoriamProfessor Kenjiro Suzuki (1940–2007)

It is with deep sorrow that we note the passing of Professor
Kenjiro Suzuki on April 25, 2007 at the age of 67. Professor Suzuki
was one of the outstanding editors of the International Journal ofHeat and Mass Transfer and the International Communications inHeat and Mass Transfer as well as a leading ﬁgure in the international community of heat and mass transfer. Just before his ﬁnal
rest, he continued to work on the basis of his own words, ‘‘Thereare many things to do as the responsibility of the ones living in thistransient society,” courageously struggling with cancer for over ayear.
Professor Suzuki was born on January 3, 1940, in Shanghai, China, and grew up in Okayama, Japan. After he enrolled in theDepartment of Mechanical Engineering of Kyoto University in1958, he spent ﬁve years there, including one year at the graduate
school. After he worked for one year at a steel-manufacturing company, in 1964 he returned to Kyoto University as an instructor andstarted his academic career. In 1971 he obtained his doctor’s degree in the ﬁeld of liquid spray diffusion ﬂame under the supervision of Professor Takashi Sato, one of the founding editors of thedoi:10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2008.03.015

International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer. Professor Suzuki
was successively appointed as an associate professor in 1975,
and became a full professor in 1986. At the time of his retirementfrom Kyoto University in 2003, he had contributed as an enthusiastic educator as well as a creative researcher for 39 years. In 2003,
he moved from his favorite city, Kyoto, to Tokyo, and served as aSenior Professor at Shibaura Institute of Technology.
The international activity of Professor Suzuki was strongly enhanced after his visit to the Imperial College of Science, Technologyand Medicine in London, United Kingdom, and Delft University ofTechnology in The Netherlands, from 1976 to 1977. His researchon turbulent heat transfer was inspired by the pioneering members of Imperial College, Professor Brian Spalding, Professor BrianLaunder, Professor Kemal Hanjalić, and other colleagues. As a result, in the series Symposium on Turbulent Shear Flows (STSF) heldevery two years, he played a key role as a member of the scientiﬁccommittee. In 1993, he contributed as the chairman of the ninth
STSF held in Kyoto, and his efﬁcient and capable organization of
the conference was greatly appreciated.
Other than turbulent heat transfer, his research covered a wide
range of topics relating to thermal engineering, such as combustion
instability, numerical simulation on complex heat and mass transfer phenomena, two-phase ﬂows, and crystal growth. In particular,
in his last 10 years, he contributed to the development of a distributed generation system consisting of a solid oxide fuel cell and amicroturbine, and his able leadership in the big project of the Japan
Science and Technology Agency successfully laid seeds for the next
generation.
For 15 years since 1992, Professor Suzuki had been in charge ofthe editorial work of the International Journal of Heat and Mass
Transfer and the International Communications in Heat and Mass
Transfer mainly for the submissions from the Asian region. Simultaneously, he was an active member as the advisory board of theInternational Journal of Heat and Fluid Flow. Also, Professor Suzuki
contributed to numerous international organizations and conferences on heat and mass transfer. We cannot forget the scene
when Professor Suzuki stood as Chairman of the Executive Committee of the International Centre for Heat and Mass Transfer(ICHMT) on the main stage at the 13th International Heat Transfer
Conference in August 2006 when his disease already advanced.
Regrettably, for most of us, it was the last occasion when wemet him.
From the viewpoint of Japanese colleagues, Professor Suzuki
was a reliable leader who could represent the status of Japan in
the international community of heat and mass transfer. He servedas Chairman of the Thermal Engineering Division (TED) of the3258

In Memoriam / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 51 (2008) 3257–3258

Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers (JSME) in 1996, and President of the Heat Transfer Society of Japan (HTSJ) in 1999.
In recognition of his prominent contributions to the world-widecommunity, he received many awards and honors, including theAward for Outstanding Leadership and the Award for International
Activity of TED, JSME, the Scientiﬁc Contribution Award of HTSJ,
and the Fellowship Award of ICHMT. Also, he was appointed asSpringer Professor at the University of California, Berkeley, andBurgers Professor at Delft University of Technology.
We also remember Professor Suzuki as an enthusiastic promoter of international academic exchange. At both Kyoto University and Shibaura Institute of Technology, he endeavored to open
new ways for foreign students as chairman of the international student committees. Until his last period, he had repeatedly visiteduniversities in American, European and Asian countries. Also, hislaboratory always had a collegial atmosphere and was ﬁlled withforeign students from various countries under his kind guidance.
As a typical outcome of his sincere effort, the Polish government
bestowed the ‘‘Medal Komisji Edukacji Narodowej” on him because
he established and promoted excellent international educational
programs and international cooperation. As an OB and the supervisor of the rowing club of Kyoto University, one of his lifelong
dreams was an international race with a powerful university team,which, regrettably, was not realized.
On the occasions of the seventh ASME–JSME Thermal Engineering Conference at Vancouver in July, 2007, the 18th International
Symposium on Transport Phenomena at Daejeon in August, 2007,
and the JSME TED Conference at Kyoto in November, 2007, we
had memorial sessions for Professor Suzuki. All the persons attending the sessions remembered that he was really a superb man withintelligence, passionate energy, justice and a warm heart. He andhis wife, Akiko, had two daughters, a son and a grandchild, and furthermore another grandchild was newly born in July, 2007 after hepassed away. To them we also express our sincere gratitude forsharing Professor Suzuki with us.
On behalf of the editors of this journal, his colleagues andfriends, former students and co-workers and the world-wide heattransfer community, we offer condolences to his wife and to his
two daughters and the son. We all will miss him.

W.J. Minkowycz
University of Illinois at Chicago,
Department of Mechanical Engineering (M/C 251),
842 West Taylor Street,
Room 2049 ERF,
Chicago, IL 60607-7022,
United States
Tel.: +1 312 996 3467; fax: +1 312 413 0447
E-mail address: wjm@uic.edu
Ichiro Tanasawa
Tokyo
Ryozo Echigo
Tokyo
Fumimaru Ogino
Kyoto
Yasunobu Fujita
Fukuoka
Masahiro Shoji
TokyoNobuhide Kasagi
TokyoToshiro Makino
Kyoto
Shigefumi Nishio
TokyoJanusz S. Szmyd
Krakow
Hideo Yoshida
KyotoShigeo MaruyamaTokyo
Available online 28 May 2008