A Tribute to Professor Sueo Kawabata

Citation

Stylios, G.K. (2002), "A Tribute to Professor Sueo Kawabata", International Journal of Clothing Science and Technology, Vol. 14 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijcst.2002.05814aaa.001

A Tribute to Professor Sueo Kawabata

It is with deepest regret that I have to inform our readers, contributors and the international textile and clothing community of the loss of Professor Sueo Kawabata, who passed away on 12 September 2001. Professor Kawabata was not only one of the most important academic personalities in textile science and engineering, acclaimed and honoured by organisations all over the world, but was also the pioneer of landmark commercial products such as the KEST series of instruments for fabric objective measurement, and other equipment for fibre and other products. He was a major contributor to conferences, seminars and journals. He had been a founder member of IJCST since its conception, and one of the most important contributors for the publication of selected papers from the renowned Textile Research Symposium in Mt. Fuji.

I am personally deeply shocked by his sudden loss. Although in recent years my obligations did not permit me to visit him in Japan as frequently as I had done during the period 1990-1999, we continued co-operating and seeing each other when he was visiting Europe. We had a close friendship over the last twenty years, during which I admired him for his stamina, his enthusiasm and his sharpness. He was always willing to join in events, to advise on research, to co-operate with industry and to advance the field, and he always had a positive contribution to make to any difficulty.

Professor Kawabata had a special fascination with the natural world and I remember him telling me that wool is such a special fibre that we will never be able to replace its properties. This is shown by his lifelong research into the standardisation of handle and the subsequent advances that resulted from it. He looked after his students not only by obtaining scholarships for them and introducing them to industrial employment, but also as a mentor throughout their lives.

Professor Sueo Kawabata is a legend and a friend who will be greatly missed, but his great works have stayed with us and will be continued. The editor, editorial board and the publisher of IJCST would like to join the international community in giving their sincere condolences for the loss of Professor Sueo Kawabata to his family and colleagues, especially to his close working associate Professor Masako Niwa.

George K Stylios