Tetsuya Fujita Collection

About the Collection

This collection consists of 406 books and articles donated to our library by the "Dr. Tetsuya Fujita Memorial Association" among the artifacts brought back from the University of Chicago's Fujita Wind Research Laboratory in addition to the meteorology and Dr. Fujita-related materials held by our library.
Some of the materials were also digitized and posted on Kyutacar, the University's institutional repository, as well as being added to the archive in the Dr. Tetsuya Theodore "Ted" Fujita Papers” of the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library at Texas Tech University.

Kyushu Institute of Technology Academic Repository Kyutacar : https://kyutech.repo.nii.ac.jp/?lang=english
Dr. Tetsuya Theodore "Ted" Fujita Papers:https://www.txarchives.org/ttusw/finding_aids/00271.xml

Through the collection, we hope to trace Dr. Fujita's journey from his research at his alma mater to becoming a leading tornado researcher in the U.S., and to pass on his spirit to the next generation of researchers.

Tetsuya Theodore (Ted) Fujita (1920-1998)

Dr. Fujita is a Japanese-born American meteorologist who is the best known for creating the “Fujita Scale” or “F-Scale” to classify tornado intensity which is still used today.

He was born in Sone village (a part of Kitakyushu city at present) in 1920, and graduated from Meiji College of Technology, or Kyushu Institute of Technology (Kyutech) at present, with Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering in 1943.

After teaching physics at Kyutech and completing a doctoral degree from University of Tokyo in 1953, he engaged in research on severe weather phenomena at the University of Chicago until his retirement in 1990.

Dr. Fujita is also well known for his pioneering discovery of “Downburst” which helped transform aviation safety. He was often called “Mr. Tornado” for his contributions in tornado research, and received many awards such as France’s National Academy of Air and Space “Vermeil Gold Medal” and the Order of the Sacred Treasure blessed by the Emperor of Japan. Though he died in 1998 at his residence in Chicago, his legacy lives on across the world of meteorology today.

photo by © University of Chicago Photographic Archive, apf1-09831, Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.

Exhibition of Tetsuya Fujita Collection

His graduation theses and doctoral dissertations are on display on the first floor of the Tobata Main Library.
Please come and visit us.

Exhibition hours follow the library's opening hours.(Library Calendar

Contact Us

Kyushu Institute of Technology Library
TEL: 093-884-3074 / Email: tos-service@jimu.kyutech.ac.jp