The Shinkishi Hatai Medal was established to honor distinguished leaders in Pacific marine biology. The medal has been awarded at every Pacific Science Congress since the 11th Pacific Science Congress in Tokyo in 1966.
Dr. Shinkishi Hatai was the first professor in biology at Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan. The Shinkishi Hatai Medal was established in 1966, three years after his death at 87, in honor of his distinguished contributions to Pacific Marine Biology. Dr. Hatai was a member of the Pacific Science Council since 1926, and was a founder of the Palau Tropical Marine Biological Laboratory. One of his important contributions to Pacific science was his service as chairman of the Committee to work out a proportionate quota of official delegates for each member country of the Pacific Science Association. This task was carried out to the satisfaction of all, and the recommendations of his Committee were adopted at the Sixth Congress in 1939. To honor his achievements, the University of British Columbia conferred on him the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws.
The Shinkishi Hatai Medal is awarded at each occasion of the Pacific Science Congress. Selection of awardees is done by the Selection Committee appointed by the National Committee for Pacific Science Association of the Science Council of Japan. Ten medalists have been selected in the past forty years. For the most recent Congress held in Okinawa in June 2007, the committee selected two awardees, Dr. Shirley Winifred Jeffrey from Australia and Dr. Tsuyoshi Kawasaki from Japan.
The recipients of the Hatai Medal are:
Dr. Deogracias V. Villidolid (Philippines), 1966
Dr. Carl L. Hubbs (USA), 1971
Dr. Lauren R. Donaldson (USA), 1975
Dr. Claude E. ZoBell (USA), 1979
Dr. Maxwell S. Doty (USA), 1983
Prof. Dr. Shigeru Motoda (Japan), 1987
Dr. William S. Hoar (USA), 1991
Dr. C.K. Tseng (USA), 1995
Dr. Howard A. Bern (USA), 2001
Dr. Bernard Salvat (France), 2003
Dr. Bernard Salvat is Professeur Emeritus at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes at the University of Perpignan, France. Dr. Salvat is an international authority on coral reef issues all around the world and the founder of a Research Station on Moorea, French Polynesia, which is associated with the French CNRS for coral reef research. He is the former President of the International Society for Reef Studies (ISRS) and chaired the Coordinating and Planning Committee (CPC) of the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) in 1999-2000. He remains involved with ICRI and IFRECOR, the French Coral Reef Initiative. Professeur Salvat is also author of numerous publications and scientific editor of many books on French tropical overseas territories.
Dr. Shirley W. Jeffrey (Australia) [and] Dr. Tsuyoshi Kawasaki (Japan), 2007 (Joint awardees)
Dr. Jeffrey (1930 – 2014), Chief Research Scientist, CSIRO Division of Fisheries Research. Dr. Jeffrey was one of the world’s great phytoplankton scientists and made very significant contributions to the science of the Pacific and to marine biology globally.
Dr. Tsuyoshi Kawasaki, Professor Emeritus of Tohoku University, was awarded the Hatai Medal in recognition of his outstanding achievements in understanding the relationship between regime shifts and fluctuations in pelagic fish stocks in the Pacific. The regime shift theory originated from Kawasaki’s recognition of synchronous changes in biomasses of a small pelagic fish, the sardine, in various marine ecosystems bordering the Pacific Ocean.
