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F U M I TA K E YO S H I DA
1913–2007
Elected in 1979
“For leadership in chemical, biochemical,
and biomedical engineering in Japan.”
BY R. BYRON BIRD AND EDWIN N. LIGHTFOOT
F UMITAKE YOSHIDA, Professor Emeritus in the Chemical
Engineering Department at Kyoto University (Japan), passed
away on September 5, 2007, after a short illness at the age of 94.
His wife Kazuko predeceased him, and he is survived by a
son, Hajime, and a daughter, Mrs. Akiko Nakane.
Professor Yoshida was born in Saitama Prefecture on March
20, 1913. In March 1937, he graduated from the Department of
Industrial Chemistry of the Kyoto Imperial University, and
the following month he accepted employment with the Hitachi
Corporation. From April 1940 until October 1945, he was
simultaneously employed by Hitachi Corporation and Kyoto
Imperial University, where he was a lecturer. At the end of
World War II, he severed his connection with Hitachi, and in
January 1946, he became an associate professor at Kyoto
Imperial University. In March 1951, he obtained his doctoral
degree at Kyoto University (the new name for Kyoto Imperial
University), by virtue of research on rectification using packed
columns. Four months later, he was appointed professor at
Kyoto University, where he taught until his retirement on
April 1, 1976.
By 1951, the Japanese academic community was ready to
make contact with similar communities around the world, and
Professor Yoshida played an important role in this endeavor.
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318 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
His various overseas assignments took him to many countries:
1951 (July) he was a GARIOA (government and relief in
occupied areas) student in the United States; from September
1951 to February 1952, he was an auditor at Columbia
University; from March 1952 to April 1953, he was a researcher
on mass transfer in packed columns at Yale University; from
January to October 1959, he was a researcher at the University
of Wisconsin; from January to June 1963, he was a visiting
professor at the University of California, Berkeley, where he
lectured on mass-transfer operations; from July to August
1966, he was a visiting professor at several Australian
universities; from July to December 1970, he was a visiting
professor at the University of Pennsylvania, where he lectured
on biomedical engineering; in February 1974, he was a visiting
professor at Tsinghua University, Taiwan; in October 1976, he
was a visitor at Ben Gurion University, Israel; and in 1987, he
was a visiting professor at Dortmund University, in West
Germany.
Professor Yoshida was able to get invitations to these
various educational institutions because of his ability to
communicate well in English, a rare quality among Japanese
engineers. He could explain to people in other countries what
was going on in Japan, and he could bring back to Japan
accurate information about activities abroad.
Among his activities in professional societies were: director
(1955–1959) and vice president (1967–1969) Society of Chemical
Engineers, Japan; associate editor, Chemical Engineering Journal
(1970); Honorary Adviser of Latin American Journal of Chemical
Engineering and Applied Chemistry; member, American Institute
of Chemical Engineers; and editor, Chemical Engineering Science
(1987–1996).
An activity of particular interest to him was the German-
Japan Joint Symposium on Bubble Columns, in which he was
a regular participant; his partner on the German side was
Professor Doctor Ulfert Oncken of the University of
Dortmund.
Professor Yoshida received numerous honors both in Japan
and abroad: Honorary Fellow, Society of Chemical Engineers,
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319
FUMITAKE YOSHIDA
Japan (1978); foreign associate, NAE (1979); Third Order of the
Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon (1986); Honorary
Fellow, Japan Society for Artificial Organs (1987); and
Distinguished Service Award, College of Engineering,
University of Wisconsin (1988).
From his first visit to Dortmund University as visiting
professor in 1981, he was closely allied with that institution. In
fact, he often referred to the city of Dortmund as his “German
home town.” In addition to his numerous scientific contacts
with the university there, he established a successful exchange
program between Kyoto University and Dortmund. In 1992,
an Honorary Doctorate (Dr.-Ing.e.h.) was awarded to him by
Dortmund University in recognition of his encouragement of
the establishment of cooperation between the two universities.
This honorary degree also emphasized that he was an engineer
of international reputation.
One of Professor Yoshida’s publications on mass transfer
was listed as one of the 100 most referenced papers in Industrial
and Engineering Chemistry for 1975 to 2005. The paper is “Gas
Absorption by Newtonian and Non-Newtonian Liquids in a
Bubble Column,” by M. Nakanoh and F. Yoshida, IEC, Process
Design, 1: 190–195 (1980).
In the city of Kyoto, Professor Yoshida founded the Kyoto
Association of Host Families (KAHF) in 1984 and served as
head of the association. KAHF placed 1,400 foreign students
with 360 host families.
Professor Yoshida was co-author of three books (all in
Japanese): Advanced Theories and Calculations of Chemical
Engineering, F. Yoshida and Y. Mori (eds.), Asakura (Vol. 1,
1962; Vol. 2, 1967); Theories and Calculations of Chemical
Engineering, S. Kamei (ed.) and F. Yoshida (co-author), Sangyo-
Tosho, 2nd ed. 1975; and Chemical Engineering and Artificial
Organs, by F. Yoshida and K. Sakai, Kyoritsu Shuppan, 2nd
ed. 1996. In addition, he was on the editorial board of and a
contributor to the Handbook of Chemical Engineering, Society of
Chemical Engineers, Japan, Maruzen (1968).
He also had several hobbies. He was a connoisseur of
cameras and photographic equipment, and he had many
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320 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
albums of photographs of his family, his foreign friends, and
his own extensive travels. He also enjoyed hiking alone or
with students and friends. Even into his 90s, he continued to
hike in the mountains around Kyoto.
When his wife, Kazuko, became ill with Alzheimer’s disease,
Yoshida Sensei took very good care of her. He prepared meals
for her, doing the cooking himself, a most unusual undertaking
for a Japanese husband.
Note: The authors wish to acknowledge the assistance of
Professor Emeritus Masataka Tanigaki of Kyoto University in
preparing this memoir.
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