Eric Kotani

Pseudonym used by US astrophysicist and writer Yoji Kondo for all his fiction. He has been professor of astrophysics at the University of Oklahoma (1972-1977), the University of Houston (1974-1977), the University of Pennsylvania (1978-1988) and the George Mason University (from 1989), with over 200 scientific papers to his credit. He has edited the journal Comments on Astrophysics since 1979, was President of the International Astronautical Union Commission on Astronomy from Space 1985-1988, and worked in senior positions for NASA between 1965 and 2001, receiving a NASA Medal for Exceptional Scientific Achievement in 1990. He edited Requiem: New Collected Works by Robert A. Heinlein and Tributes to the Grand Master (1992), and contributed to New Destinies, Vol. VI/Winter 1988 -- Robert A. Heinlein Memorial Issue (1988), after his friend, writer Robert A. Heinlein, died in 1988. Kondo also edited the non-fiction book Interstellar Travel & Multi-Generational Space Ships, part of the Apogee Books Space Series. He has also written a Star Trek Tie. Kondo is also an accomplished teacher of Aikido and Judo.