The seventh international conference on borate glasses, crystals and melts held in August 2011 in Halifax, Canada was dedicated to Dr Tsutomu Minami, professor emeritus of Osaka Prefecture University. He started his research career in 1964 as Osaka Prefecture University and retired there in 2009. For over 45 years, he has devoted himself to the development of new glasses in the following fields (1) vitreous semiconductors, (2) ionically conducting glasses, (3) rapid quenching for new glass preparation, (4) glass preparation by mechanical milling, and (5) coating film preparation by the sol-gel process. In this paper the author describes Professor Minami's research history in the field of glass science and technology. His scientific publications and awards are briefly summarised, and his activities at the University and in several scientific communities are reported.
