William H. K. Lee

William H. K. Lee
Born
William Hung Kang Lee[1]

October 6, 1940
Quiping, Guangxi, China
Diedc. November 2022[a]
Other names
  • Willie H. K. Lee
  • W. H. K. Lee[4]
Education
Awards
Scientific career
FieldsSeismology
InstitutionsU.S. Geological Survey

William Hung Kang Lee[b] (1940 – 2022) was a seismologist affiliated with the U.S. Geological Survey and an elected fellow of the American Geophysical Union.[4][7] He was an expert on the application of personal computers on monitoring seismic events; the "Willie Lee System" of recording seismicity on computer networks is named for him.[8] A two-park book he edited, the International Handbook of Earthquake and Engineering Seismology (Academic Press, 2003–2003) received multiple scholarly reviews.[9]

Born during wartime in Quiping, Guangxi, China, on October 6, 1940, Lee's family fled to Macau in 1950 and Hong Kong in 1952.[4] He attended the University of Alberta in Canada, where he received a B.S. degree in physics and geology in 1962, and later the University of California, Los Angeles, from which he attained a Ph.D. in planetary and space physics in 1967.[2]

During his life, he held several posts within the International Association of Seismology and Physics of the Earth's Interior,[3] including service on the Commission on Practice in the late 1980s,[10] and work as chair of the Working Group on Personal Computers during the year 1989.[11][12] He was also the editor of the IASPEI Software Library, published in multiple volumes from 1989 to 1993,[13] and chairman of the Committee on Education from 1995 to 2001.[14] He is mentioned as an important figure in the official IASPEI brochure.[15]

Lee joined the Geological Survey at Menlo Park, California, in 1967, and retired to become a scientist emeritus around 1995 or 1996.[16][17] In 2006, the USGS awarded Lee the Dallas Peck Outstanding Emeritus Award.[c] He was unanimously picked by the IASPEI Bureau to win the 2015 IASPEI Medal.[19][20]

He died in circa November 2022.[a]

Notes

  1. ^ a b A paper published by IASPEI stated he died "late November 2022"[2] though another online seismology source published on December 11 claimed he had passed away the previous week.[3]
  2. ^ Also spelled Hung Kan Lee.[5][6]
  3. ^ Source: U.S. Geological Survey.[18] See also: Dallas Peck.

References

  1. ^ SSA [@SeismoSocietyAm] (January 18, 2023). "In Memoriam: William "Willie" Hung Kang Lee (1940–2022)" (Tweet). Retrieved May 27, 2023 – via Twitter.
  2. ^ a b Schweitzer, Johannes (December 2022). "William H. K. Lee (1942 – 2022) [sic]" (PDF). IASPEI Newsletter. International Association of Seismology and Physics of the Earth's Interior: 9–11.
  3. ^ a b De Plaen, Raphael (December 11, 2022). "W.H.K. Lee passing". Legacy Seismograms. European Seismological Commission. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
  4. ^ a b c Ellsworth, Bill; Kirby, Steve (January 12, 2023). "William "Willie" Hung Kang Lee (1940–2022)". Seismological Research Letters. 94 (2A): 562–563. doi:10.1785/0220220389.
  5. ^ "LEE; William Hung Kan (1940-); seismologist" (Catalog record). Geological Society of London. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
  6. ^ See, for example, citations as William Hung Kan Lee:
  7. ^ "William "Willie" Hung Kang Lee (1940–2022)" (Post). Seismological Society of America. January 18, 2023. Retrieved May 22, 2023 – via LinkedIn.
  8. ^ "Mid-Year Report: February 16, 2000". Commission on Seismological Observation and Interpretation. IASPEI. Retrieved May 26, 2023.
  9. ^ See Part A (ISBN 0-12-440652-1) and Part B (ISBN 0-12-440658-0). See also reviews:
  10. ^ Adams, R. D., ed. (August 1988). "IASPEI COMMISSIONS" (PDF). IASPEI Newsletter (22): 5.
  11. ^ Adams, R. D., ed. (February 1989). "IASPEI SOFTWARE" (PDF). IASPEI Newsletter (23): 6.
  12. ^ Adams, R. D., ed. (November 1989). "Working Groups" (PDF). IASPEI Newsletter (25): 13.
  13. ^ "PUBLICATIONS" (PDF). IASPEI Newsletter (36): 12–14. June 1995.
  14. ^ Lee, William. "William Lee" (Staff profile). U.S. Geological Survey. Archived from the original on December 1, 2021.
  15. ^ "IASPEI Cooperation for Better Understanding of the Earth" (Brochure). International Association of Seismology and Physics of the Earth's Interior. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
  16. ^ Hickman, Stephen; Evans, John R. (February 18, 2015). "[rotation] Fwd: Willie Lee recipient of 2015 IASPEI Medal". Rotational Seismology (Mailing list). LMU Munich. Retrieved May 26, 2023.
  17. ^ "Scientist Emeritus List". U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved May 26, 2023.
  18. ^ "USGS Emeritus Program Awards". U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved February 9, 2026.
  19. ^ The IASPEI Bureau (May 2015). "IASPEI Medal Winner 2015" (PDF). IASPEI Newsletter: 3–4.
  20. ^ "The IASPEI Medal". IASPEI. Retrieved May 22, 2023.