Dear AOGS Family & Friends,

It is with great sadness that we are informing you of the passing of Professor Yohsuke Kamide, one of the three Founders of AOGS. Prof. Kamide passed away on 09 December 2021, age 78, in Japan. The famous Kamide-Richmond-Matsushita (KRM) model counts as one of his numerous trail-blazing works in solar-terrestrial physics. Because of his outstanding scientific reputation and administrative skill, Prof. Kamide was constantly sought after by international and national societies and research institutions to serve leadership positions including the Directorship of the Solar-Terrestrial Environmental Laboratory (STEL) of Nagoya University. Prof. Kamide's far-sighted thinking led to the idea of forming an Asia-based geosciences society in a discussion with Prof. Ian Axford during Ian's visit to STEL at his invitation.

This was the origin of AOGS. Among his many academic honors, Prof. Kamide was also both an Axford Medallist and an AOGS Honorary Member. We named the distinguished lectures given by early career scientists at each AOGS annual meeting the Kamide Lectures in honor of his monumental contributions to our Society.

The simplest pleasures in life brought great joy to Kamide-san. He loved a good meal with friends and found even small bits of information and anecdotes fascinating. Nothing could hold him back from doing what he really loved. AOGS is just one of those. Kamide-san was always giving generously, donating time and even his own money to support AOGS.

Always the fighter, and almost unstoppable, he came down with Parkinson’s disease a few years ago, but continued working hard at living a normal life. If you were so much as telling him that you are visiting, he would have been at the station for you. If he learned so much that you are in transit, he would have been at the airport for you. Such was the depth of his relationship with his friends, always trusting them and enjoying time with them. His friendship meant a lot to AOGS and us all.

Curious as a child, Kamide-san was always investigating and reasoning everything out logically and perhaps, it was this quality that made him the distinguished scholar and scientist that he was and help him accomplish so many achievements.

He will be sorely missed as a friend, a colleague and a leader.

With the warmest memories of Kamide-san,
Asia Oceania Geosciences Society