Doak C. Cox ( 1917-April 21 , 2003 ) was a Hawaiian geologist , best known for work in the prediction of tsunamis . Cox was born on the Hawaiian island of Maui but spent most of his childhood on Kauai . His father , Joel B. Cox , was a civil engineer working for a sugar plantation . In 1938 Cox graduated from the University of Hawaii with a B.S. degree in Physics and Mathamatics . He earned his Masters degree in Geology from Harvard in 1941 . Cox spent the next four years working with the U.S. Geological Survey . After World War II , his career path lead him to accomplishing a good deal of research in hydrogeology , earthquake and tsunami research , and the environment . In 1946 he returned home to work for the Hawaiian Sugar Planters Association ( HSPA ) . At HSPA , he was put in charge of the water development and research program of water and geology . For the next 14 years , Cox worked on Arno Atoll , Western Samoa , the Marshall Islands and the Marianas . He was the first to define the sigmoidal mixing curve in a fresh water lens , which he discovered by using a series of sampling tubes . Cox was good at recognizing needs that could be taken care of by science . After the 1946 Aleutian Islands earthquake created a destructive tsunami , he wanted to make a wave-based warning system for tsunamis . He wanted to know the height and velocity of quake-generated waves , what time they would arrive , what direction they would come from , and what the destruction impact may be . In 1946 , 1952 , 1957 , 1960 , and 1964 Cox gathered data from tsunamis that struck Hawaii . His data later became are part of today 's Pacific Tsunami warning system
1946 Aleutian Islands earthquake
1946 Aleutian Islands earthquake
Doak Cox