Koichi Shimoda
About Optica
In Memoriam: Koichi Shimoda,
29 May 2023
Koichi Shimoda, Optica Fellow and professor, passed away on 29 May 2023. He was known as the “founding father” of Japanese radio astronomer. Shimoda was born on 5 October 1920 in Urawa, Saitama, Japan.
From a young age, Shimoda had a passion for astronomy. In high school, he read in the newspaper about a partial solar eclipse that would be visible from Japan. In 1943, Shimoda graduated with a Bachelor of Science from the Department of Physics at the University of Tokyo. In 1948, he began working at the Institute of Science and Technology on the Komaba Campus of the University of Tokyo as an Assistant Professor of Physics. He received his Doctor of Science degree from the University of Tokyo, Tokyo, in 1955. Shimoda was made a professor in 1959. Shimoda is known to have performed Japan’s first radio astronomical experiment and recorded solar noise at 3.3 GHz. Shimoda’s eclipse observations and solar monitoring had set the stage for early radio astronomy.
From 1954 to 1955, he was a Research Fellow at Columbia Radiation Laboratory in collaboration with Charles H. Townes. He was a visiting professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from 1962 through 1964. Shimoda covered a wide variety of research, including laser spectroscopy, microwave electronics, microwave spectroscopy, molecular beam masers, maser spectroscopy, atomic frequency standards, quantum noise in masers and lasers, gas laser theory, laser frequency stabilization, and stimulated Raman scattering. Shimoda served as the chairman of the Physics Education Society of Japan for 16 years, and published numerous educational textbooks and study guides.
Shimoda received numerous recognitions over the course of his career. In 1959, he was awarded the Publication Prize of Electrical Communication of Japan, followed by the Torei Science and Technology Prize in 1973. Optica (formerly The Optical Society) named him a Fellow in 1978 for his achievements. The following year, Optica awarded Shimoda the CEK Mees Medal “in recognition of his contribution to quantum optics and double resonance spectroscopy and for his generous contributions to international cooperation in physics through conference organization and publication guidance.” Shimoda was a member of the American Physical Society, Laser Society Japan, Physical Society Japan and Physics Education Society Japan. His interests outside of science were piano, music and painting.
Optica and the scientific community mourn his loss.
