K¿zim Ergin (Mehmet K¿zim Ergin), known to his colleagues and students as Kazim Hoca, was a Turkish geophysicist whose theoretical and experimental research contributed to many aspects of geophysics. He was also an important figure in advancing teaching of the geosciences in Turkey in the decades after World War II, both as an instructor and an administrator. He died on 24 November 2002 on Teachers' Day, an annual holiday in Turkey, when many of his former students and colleagues regularly phoned or visited him. He will always be remembered as one of the pioneering figures in the development of the Earth sciences in Turkey, for his individual contributions as a university teacher and administrator, and for his influence on his colleagues and students.