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Biography
William Hung Kang Lee, also known professionally as Willie H. K. Lee or the moniker W. H. K. Lee, was a seismologist affiliated with the U.S. Geological Survey; elected a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union in 1992. He was an expert on the application of personal computers on monitoring seismic events, as the "Willie Lee System" of recording seismic networks on computers is named for him. A book he was first author on, International Handbook of Earthquake and Engineering Seismology, received multiple scholarly reviews.
During his life, he held many posts within IASPEI, including on the Commission on Practice in the late 1980s, which included serving as chair of the Working Group on Personal Computers during the year 1989. He was also the editor of the IASPEI Software Library, published in multiple volumes from 1989–93 and chairman of the Committee on Education from 1995–2001. He is mentioned as an important figure in the official IASPEI Brochure.
Lee joined the Geological Survey in 1967, and retired to become a Scientist Emeritus around 1995–96.
He was unanimously picked by the IASPEI Bureau to win the 2015 IASPEI Medal.
Education
- University of Alberta (B.S. (Physics and Geology), 1962)
- University of California, Los Angeles (Ph.D. (Planetary and Space Physics), 1967)
