During a research career that has spanned more than a half century, Dr. Munk has made fundamental contributions to understanding various ocean waves and tides and the mechanism of oceanic circulation. He was also the first to shed light upon the influence of the atmospheric and oceanic motions on the rotation of the earth, bringing a new development of studies in this field. Through these achievements, he has enormously influenced and promoted the development of earth science, especially oceanography, in the latter half of the 20th century.