Katsutada Sezawa (, 21 August 1895 – 23 April 1944) was a Japanese geophysicist ( Seismologist). Sezawa's key work was on the mathematical aspects of wave transmission in media of different viscosities and the Sezawa wave mode of surface waves is named after him. Sezawa was born in Ishikawa Prefecture where his father was a judge. He graduated in 1921 from the Imperial University of Tokyo in shipbuilding and became a professor at the university in 1928. Sezawa became the director of the

Earthquake Research Institute, University of Tokyo Earthquake Research Institute, University of Tokyo (ERI; 東京大学地震研究所 ''Tokyo Daigaku Jishin Kenkyu-jo'') is an institute in affiliation with University of Tokyo. It was founded in 1925. Many fellows research on various topics about ...

. His key work was on theoretical aspects of seismic wave transmission in different media. He was able to calculate differences in the structure of the earth based on seismic observations. He also predicted the existence of surface waves which are now termed as Sezawa waves. He was awarded the

Imperial Prize of the Japan Academy The is a prestigious honor conferred to two of the recipients of the Japan Academy Prize. Overviews It is awarded in two categories: humanities and natural sciences. The Emperor and Empress visit the awarding ceremony and present a vase to ...

(1931).

References

Japanese seismologists Academic staff of the University of Tokyo University of Tokyo alumni People from Ishikawa Prefecture 1895 births 1944 deaths 20th-century Japanese physicists {{scientist-stub