Terahertz pioneers: A series of interviews with significant contributors to terahertz science and technology

As a tribute to individuals who have contributed significantly, and over many years, to the terahertz community, and as a guide and inspiration for those who are just beginning their professional association with this field of study, these transactions have included, on a regular basis, a series of biographical interviews with technical researchers who have appreciably impacted the THz community in a positive manner. In order to go beyond a strict technical review and to take better advantage of the information and commentary only available through a direct discussion, these articles take on a less formal style than the research articles that can be found within the remaining pages of the transactions. The Editor-in-Chief (EiC) has taken some leeway in this regard, for the benefit of communicating more fully the character, experiences, and historic circumstances that have shaped our community and set the directions for our collective research. As a further means of assuring that the true flavor and circumstances of the contributions are expressed in the text, all of the articles are compiled after a face-to-face interview. The final text is shared with, and often helped considerably, by comments from the subject of the article. The EiC, with the support of the IEEE MTT Publications Committee, has chosen to incorporate these biographical articles within the more formal technical journal because of the diversity of disciplines that make up the THz community and the prior absence of a single unifying publication with sufficient outreach to extend across the whole of the RF and optical THz disciplines. The EiC hopes you will enjoy the short diversion of reading these articles as much as he himself enjoys the process of composing them. This month we cross the Pacific to hear the story of a young electrical engineer from Japan who was so self-motivated, he used his mother´s inheritance to cover the cost of attending the very first international THz symposium, held in Br- oklyn, NY, USA, back in March 1970. Ever since that career forming decision to participate in something new and exciting, Professor Koji Mizuno has been an active contributor to THz science and applications. Back in 1970, the appropriate terminology was submillimeter waves. Nevertheless, the discipline spanned a very wide application base and attracted a diverse group of scientists, which included chemists, physicists, engineers and even one or two biologists. Professor Mizuno worked in all of these areas, and as we shall find, has been one of the staunchest supporters of our discipline, as well as a tireless ambassador that has helped to bring the science of THz to Asia and beyond.