Tribute to Kitamura Sensei: a great teacher

摘要

Professor Ryuichi Kitamura passed away on February 19, 2009, in Japan. It has been more than 15 years since he returned to Kyoto University, where he received his Bachelor's Degree in 1972 and his Master's Degree in 1974, to serve as a Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering in 1993. It has been almost 20 years since he went abroad for his Doctoral Degree. We cannot identify with precision the enormity of his contribution to the international and Japanese research communities, and to practical transportation policy-making all over the world. We were, of course, too young to really understand his greatness as a professor when we first encountered him, but we somehow knew he was a "great professor", and we were honored to have him as our teacher.