Takafumi Matsui
Japanese planetary scientist and geophysicist (1946–2023)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Takafumi Matsui (Japanese: 松井孝典, 7 March 1946 – 22 March 2023) was a Japanese planetary scientist, geophysicist, science communicator and academic. He was professor emeritus at the University of Tokyo.
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Life and career
Born in Shizuoka, Matsui graduated from the Faculty of Science of the University of Tokyo, and after a stage as a visiting researcher at NASA he became professor at the Graduate School of Frontier Sciences of his alma mater.[1][2] He was specialized in astrobiology and comparative planetary science.[3] He served as president of the Chiba Institute of Technology from June 2020 till his death.[2] He authored numerous scientific articles and books.[1]
Matsui died of prostate cancer on 22 March 2023, at the age of 77.[1][2] The planet 7301 Matsuitakafumi, discovered in 1993, was named after him.[3]