Professor Ahmet Cevdet Yalçıner was granted the 2019 Hamaguchi Award, given by Japan Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. Prof. Yalçıner was presented his award by Akaba Kazuyoshi, Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan at the ceremony held on October 29, 2019.
Hamaguchi Award is given since 2016 for individuals and/or organizations that have made significant scientific or pragmatic contributions to the enhancement of coastal resilience against tsunami, storm surge, and other coastal disasters, which will raise people’s awareness of disaster resilience.
The award is named after Hamaguchi Goryo, who protected his fellow villagers from the tsunami resulting from the Ansei Nankai Earthquake, and its devastating effect in the village of Hiromura (new name Hirogawa) in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, on December 24, 1854 (November 5, according to the old Japanese calendar). In memory of this event, November 5th was designated as “World Tsunami Awareness Day” on the United Nations General Assembly(UNGA) in December 2015.
Reason of Award:
Professor Ahmet Cevdet Yaçıner from METU, Turkey, is a distinguished researcher actively studying on tsunami science since 1987. He has made valuable contributions to tsunami science in terms of tsunami numerical modeling, increasing tsunami awareness, preparedness, resilience, and development of mitigation strategies through countless international scientific projects. He was selected as the Research Fellow of Matsumae International Foundation of Japan in 1987, which provided a great opportunity for him to study at Tohoku University under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Nobuo Shuto. He devoted not only his academic endeavors but also his life to the protection of coastal communities against tsunamis, storm surges, and marine induced hazards. He had led numerous post-tsunami survey teams of UNESCO since 2004 and chaired UNESCO-IOC NEAMTWS between 2013 and 2017. Several of his research students are currently working in reputable universities and research institutions on tsunami, storm surge and tropical cyclone modeling and assessment. In brief, his academic studies and leadership are remarkable in tsunami research, public awareness, and new engineering solutions on the design of coastal structures.
