On July 21, 2012 (June 3, 2012 in the lunar calendar), Xu Shizhe, academician of China Academy of Sciences, passed away. Academician Xu Shizhe of China Academy of Sciences was born in Taizhou, Zhejiang Province on October 2, 1936. He died at 16:55 on July 21, 2012 in Hangzhou due to ineffective medical treatment at the age of 76. Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and geophysicist. He has successively served as Director of the Department of Geology and Honorary Dean of the College of Geosciences of Qingdao Ocean University, Professor of the Department of Geosciences of the School of Science of Zhejiang University, and a member of the Discipline Review Group of the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council. He was one of the first people in the world to apply the boundary element method in mechanics to geophysical exploration. He also compiled my country's first paleomagnetism monograph,"Introduction to Paleomagnetism". Academician Xu Shizhe is a famous geophysicist with great achievements in computational geophysics. He creatively proposed a method of constructing a conformal transformation coordinate network to make the calculation of the geophysical field more accurate and scientific. He is one of the first scholars in China to apply the finite element method in geophysical exploration, and one of the first scholars in the world to apply the boundary element method in mechanics to geophysical exploration. His monograph "Boundary Element Methods in Geophysics" is the first monograph on boundary element methods in the international geophysical community. After it was published in China, it was translated into English and published by the American Society for Exploration Geophysics. He also compiled my country's first paleomagnetism monograph,"Introduction to Palaeomagnetism", which effectively promoted my country's paleomagnetism work. Academician Xu Shizhe has continuously explored research fields, devoted himself to exploring new methods and technologies, and achieved innovative research results in many aspects. He has published more than 100 first author papers in important academic journals at home and abroad, and won the National Science and Technology Conference Major Achievement Award and many Provincial and ministerial awards and played an important role in the practice of national production and construction. In the 1970s and 1980s, he was engaged in research on earthquake precursor prediction. His research results on land electricity mechanisms were highly valued by the State Seismological Administration, saving the country a large amount of expenditure. Since 2005, he has applied the new technology of potential field theory in the economic and military fields, and achieved good results. Academician Xu Shizhe lived an upright life, seeking truth from facts, being honest and simple, modest and prudent, devoted himself to study, pursuing truth, indifferent to fame and wealth, and sincerely serving the country. He is worthy of being an outstanding representative of the intellectuals of New China serving the country scientifically and educating a powerful country. His academic spirit and noble moral character, as well as his dedication to science, are a shining example for scientific workers, especially young scholars.