William H. K. Lee

Asian American seismologist (1940–2022)

W. H. K. Lee
Born	October 6, 1940 Guangxi
Died	November 2022^[a]
Awards	IASPEI Medal^[1]

William Hung Kang Lee,^[4]^[b] also known professionally as Willie H. K. Lee or the moniker W. H. K. Lee, was a seismologist affiliated with the U.S. Geological Survey; elected a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union in 1992.^[7]^[8] He was an expert on the application of personal computers on monitoring seismic events, as the "Willie Lee System" of recording seismic networks on computers is named for him.^[9] A book he was first author on, International Handbook of Earthquake and Engineering Seismology, received multiple scholarly reviews.^[10]

During his life, he held many posts within IASPEI,^[11] including on the Commission on Practice in the late 1980s,^[12] which included serving as chair of the Working Group on Personal Computers during the year 1989.^[13]^[14] He was also the editor of the IASPEI Software Library, published in multiple volumes from 1989–93 and chairman of the Committee on Education from 1995–2001.^[15]^[16] He is mentioned as an important figure in the official IASPEI Brochure.^[17]

Lee joined the Geological Survey in 1967,^[18] and retired to become a Scientist Emeritus around 1995–96.^[19]

He was unanimously picked by the IASPEI Bureau to win the 2015 IASPEI Medal.^[20]

Education

University of Alberta (B.S. (Physics and Geology), 1962)^[2]
University of California, Los Angeles (Ph.D. (Planetary and Space Physics), 1967)^[2]

Notes

^ A paper published by IASPEI claimed he died "late November 2022"^[2] though another online seismology source published on December 11 claimed he had passed away the previous week.^[3]
^ Alternately spelled Hung Kan Lee.^[5]^[6]

References

^ "The IASPEI Medal". IASPEI. Retrieved 2023-05-22.
^ ^a ^b ^c Schweitzer, Johannes (December 2022). "William H. K. Lee (1942 – 2022)" (PDF). IASPEI Newsletter: 9–11.
^ "W.H.K. Lee passing". Legacy Seismograms. European Seismological Commission. 2022-12-11. Retrieved 2023-05-27.
^ SSA [@SeismoSocietyAm] (January 19, 2023). "In Memoriam: William "Willie" Hung Kang Lee (1940–2022): Our community has lost one of its pioneers who led the creation of modern seismic networks while maintaining a sharp focus on the importance of the early instrumental and historical record" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
^ "Record: LEE; William Hung Kan (1940-); seismologist". Geological Society of London. Retrieved 2023-05-27.
^
Citiations as William Hung Kan Lee:
- Hendrikx, J.; Hobman, A.; Birkeland, K. W. (2010). "I'll have mine shaken, not loaded" (PDF). The Avalanche Review. 29 (2): 22–24.
- Filippucci, Marilena; Miccolis, Simona; Castagnozzi, Angelo; Cecere, Gianpaolo; de Lorenzo, Salvatore; Donvito, Giacinto; Falco, Luigi; Michele, Maddalena; Nicotri, Stefano; Romeo, Annalisa; Selvaggi, Giulio; Tallarico, Andrea (2021). "Seismicity of the Gargano promontory (Southern Italy) after 7 years of local seismic network operation: Data release of waveforms from 2013 to 2018". Data in Brief. 35: 106783. Bibcode:2021DIB....3506783F. doi:10.1016/j.dib.2021.106783. ISSN 2352-3409. PMC 7841310. PMID 33537385.
^ Ellsworth, Bill; Kirby, Steve (2023). "William "Willie" Hung Kang Lee (1940–2022)". Seismological Research Letters. 94 (2A): 562–563. Bibcode:2023SeiRL..94..562E. doi:10.1785/0220220389. ISSN 0895-0695. S2CID 255877137.
^ "Seismological Society of America on LinkedIn: William "Willie" Hung Kang Lee (1940–2022)". Seismological Society of America. Retrieved 2023-05-22 – via LinkedIn.
^ "Mid-Year Report: February 16, 2000". IASPEI. Retrieved 2023-05-26.
^
Multiple reviews:
- Chen, Yun-tai; Wu, Zhong-liang (2004-01-01). "International Handbook of Earthquake and Engineering Seismology". Acta Seismologica Sinica. 17 (1): 119–120. Bibcode:2004AcSSn..17..119C. doi:10.1007/BF03191403. ISSN 1993-1344. S2CID 121624675.
- Lomnitz, Cinna (2006-03-01). "Book Review: W.H.K. Lee, H. Kanamori, P.C. Jennings, and C. Kisslinger (eds): International Handbook of Earthquake & Engineering Seismology. Academic Press, London (for International Association of Seismology and Physics of the Earth's Interior). 2 Vols., hardcover, 8.5× 11 inches. Part A, 933 pp. with 1 CD, $150.00. Part B, 1040 pp. with 2 CDs, 150.00. (The 3 CDROMs are equivalent to about 300,000 pages)". Natural Hazards. 37 (3): 393–397. Bibcode:2006NatHa..37..393L. doi:10.1007/s11069-005-0262-1. ISSN 1573-0840.
- Riedel, Carsten (2006-07-01). "International Handbook of Earthquake and Engineering Seismology". Journal of Seismology. 10 (3): 389–391. Bibcode:2006JSeis..10..389R. doi:10.1007/s10950-005-9000-0. ISSN 1573-157X. S2CID 111223977.
^ "W.H.K. Lee passing". Legacy Seismograms. European Seismological Commission. 2022-12-11. Retrieved 2023-05-27.
^ Adams, R. D., ed. (August 1988). "IASPEI COMMISSIONS" (PDF). IASPEI Newsletter (22): 5.
^ Adams, R. D., ed. (February 1989). "IASPEI SOFTWARE" (PDF). IASPEI Newsletter (23): 6.
^ Adams, R. D., ed. (November 1989). "Working Groups" (PDF). IASPEI Newsletter (25): 13.
^ "PUBLICATIONS" (PDF). IASPEI Newsletter (36): 12–14. June 1995.
^ Lee, William. "William Lee". U.S. Geological Survey. Archived from the original on December 1, 2021.
^ "IASPEI Cooperation for Better Understanding of the Earth". IASPEI. Retrieved 2023-05-27.
^ Evans, John R. (February 18, 2015). "[rotation] Fwd: Willie Lee recipient of 2015 IASPEI Medal". Rotational Seismology. lists.geophysik.uni-muenchen.de. Retrieved 2023-05-26.
^ "Scientist Emeritus List". U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved 2023-05-26.
^ The IASPEI Bureau (May 2015). "IASPEI Medal Winner 2015" (PDF). IASPEI Newsletter: 3–4.