Faculty, Friends Mourn Loss of Beloved Biology Professor
The Department of Biology lost a beloved faculty member last month with the death of Professor Masashi Kawasaki.
Kawasaki suffered fatal injuries from a May 18 car accident near Charlottesville. He was 69.
Kawasaki studied electric fishes, which possess one of the most extraordinary methods of communication and behavior in the animal world. He focused on South American and African electric fishes, combining behavioral experiments, computation, and neuroscience to uncover fundamental design principles of the brain studying these exotic animals.
His curiosity and love for animals of all kinds made his popular Animal Behavior Laboratory course interesting and insightful, earning him multiple teaching awards.
“Masashi was among the most generous and principled colleagues that I have ever known. He was listened to and respected by his colleagues and was working for the students literally until the day that he passed. He had an outsized effect of our department and will be sorely missed at every level,” Biology chair Doug Taylor said.
Born in Tokyo, Japan, Kawasaki spent his undergraduate and graduate years there, receiving his Ph.D. from Sophia University in 1984. After postdoctoral positions at Washington University in St. Louis and the Scripps Institute for Oceanography in San Diego, Masashi joined UVA’s Biology faculty in 1990.
His influence at UVA extended well beyond his research and teaching. Kawasaki was an accomplished musician and a tireless advocate for classical music in Charlottesville. While at UVA, Masashi started to learn how to play the double bass and eventually joined the UVA Symphony where he played alongside faculty colleagues from the Department of Music faculty and talented students.
University friends and colleagues gathered on May 29 to honor his memory at memorial events held in Gilmer Hall and Pavilion II on the Lawn. On June 1 , on what would have been his 70th birthday, the Kawasaki family hosted a remembrance at The Atrium at The Center at Belvedere.
Kawasaki is survived by his wife, Yasuko; daughter, Tomomi, son, Daigo; brother, Masaya; and his mother, Taeko.
To learn more about Kawasaki’s remarkable life and career, or to contribute your own memories, visit this webpage created in his honor.