Materials are arranged in the order created during the interview process with the first file containing administrative materials created before, during, and after the interview.
Accession No. PA.2001.0003: Syun-Ichi Akasofu, 2001 June
[identification of item], Syun-Ichi Akasofu Oral History, SPEC.PA.56.0084, Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center Archival Program, Ohio State University
Contains audiocassettes.
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Processed by: Audrey Wimbiscus, 2020 October; Finding aid written by: Audrey Wimbiscus, Sam Devereaux, 2020 November
As of 2020, Syun-Ichi Akasofu is a geophysicist who studies Arctic auroras and solar physics. He earned a bachelor’s degree in geophysics from Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan, in 1953, and a master’s degree in geophysics from the same institution in 1957. Akasofu earned his Doctor of Philosophy in Geophysics in 1961 from University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF).
Akasofu began teaching geophysics at UAF in 1964. At the time, UAF was involved in the All-Sky Camera Project, an effort by scientists from Russia, Norway, Canada, and the United States, to film the entire northern sky each night. This project led to Akasofu’s discovery of auroral substorms. Auroral substorms happen when energy is released from the magnetosphere and sent into the high latitude ionosphere because of a disturbance in the Earth's magnetosphere.
From 1986-1999, Akasofu served as the Director of the Geophysical Institute at UAF. He later served as the Director of the International Arctic Research Center at UAF from 1998-2007. Akasofu discovered the source of the electrical generator that provided the electrical discharges necessary for creating auroras. Throughout his career, Akasofu has worked with numerous researchers and with the United States Air Force on projects and research. He has done research focused on auroral physics and solar activity in Arctic locations such as Barrow, Alaska; Thule, Greenland; and Churchill, Manitoba.
The Syun-Ichi Akasofu Oral History, dated 2001-2002, contains audio recordings, administrative information, and transcripts of the interview between Dr. Akasofu and Karen Nichols Brewster of the American Polar Society conducted on June 11, 2001. This interview was a part of a series of polar oral histories sponsored by the American Polar Society and Ohio State University's Byrd Polar Research Center Archival Program, with funding from the National Science Foundation. Major topics discussed include Akasofu's career studying Arctic auroras, his work and studies at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF), his time as the Director of the Geophysical Institute at UAF, and how he worked to establish and serve as Director of the International Arctic Research Center at UAF.
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