2026 Edwin Land Medal Winner
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Paul M. Hubel Named the 2026 Edwin H. Land Medal Recipient
Optica and the Society for Imaging Science and Technology (IS&T) are pleased to announce that Paul M. Hubel, Apple, Inc., USA, has been selected as the 2026 Edwin H. Land Medal winner. Hubel is honored for pioneering novel image algorithms in digital camera research; for development of optimal software-firmware strategies compatible with both existing and new hardware; and for three decades of image quality improvements that make better photographs - instantly.
Paul M. Hubel is Chief Scientist of Camera Technology at Apple Inc., where he leads advancements in color and image processing and image quality for digital photography. He played a key role in developing many aspects of computational photography such as multi-image fusion, multi-prime camera systems, stabilization, and depth features (portrait mode) that led to the exponential growth of photography. Hubel has contributed core color and imaging technologies to Apple products since 2008.
He earned a BS in optical engineering from the University of Rochester and a DPhil in engineering science from Oxford University. His doctoral thesis was on color reflection holography. During his studies, he spent three summers working on surface physics, holography, and color science at The Rowland Institute for Science.
Hubel began his career as a research fellow at MIT Media Lab, where he taught courses and did research on conventional, synthetic, and electronic (video) color holographic displays developing many new processes for color reproduction in holography.
Upon completion of his fellowship, he spent ten years at Hewlett-Packard Laboratories as a member of technical staff and then principal scientist in the printing technology department. His work at HP focused on illumination estimation, tone correction and color rendering for digital cameras, as well as color reproduction for scanners, copiers, and printers. He then spent six years as chief image scientist for Foveon, Inc where he continued his work in color processing, tone mapping, image signal processing (ISP) architecture design, and sensor optical simulations.
Hubel has been actively involved in IS&T and ISO TC42 on Digital Photography for most of his career. Notable recent contributions are the invention and standardization of HDR still image formats which are now ubiquitous in the industry. As an undergraduate at the University of Rochester, Hubel founded the society’s first student chapter and enjoyed attending the Annual Meeting where the chapter demonstrated optical experiments to local teachers.
Established in 1992, the Edwin H. Land Medal recognizes pioneering work empowered by scientific research to create inventions, technologies and products. It honors Edwin H. Land for his unique career as scientist, technologist, industrialist, humanist and public servant. The medal is jointly presented by Optica and IS&T, and funded through the support of the Polaroid Foundation, the Polaroid Retirees Association and individual contributors, including Manfred Heiting, Theodore Voss and John J. McCann.
About Optica
Optica, Advancing Optics and Photonics Worldwide, is the society dedicated to promoting the generation, application, archiving and dissemination of knowledge in the field. Founded in 1916, it is the leading organization for scientists, engineers, business professionals, students and others interested in the science of light. Optica's renowned publications, meetings, online resources and in-person activities fuel discoveries, shape real-life applications and accelerate scientific, technical and educational achievement.
About IS&T
The Society for Imaging Science and Technology (IS&T) is an international professional non-profit dedicated to keeping members and other imaging professionals apprised of the latest developments in the field through conferences, educational programs, publications, and its website. IS&T programs encompass all aspects of the imaging workflow, which moves from capture (sensors, cameras) through imaging processing (image quality, color, and materialization) to hard and soft copy output (printing, displays, image permanence), and includes aspects related to human vision, such as image quality and color. The Society also focuses on a wide range of image-related applications, including security, virtual reality, machine vision, and data analysis.
Headshot Photo Credit: Sarah Silver 2025
Working Photo Credit: Dan Wang 2025
