CLEO 2023 Honorees
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CLEO 2023 Honorees
Optica is proud to recognize the outstanding achievements of our community.
Thank you for joining us in congratulating the following honorees recognized during the CLEO 2023 Plenary Session I.
Established in 1980 to honor Charles Hard Townes, whose pioneering contributions to masers and lasers led to the development of the field of quantum electronics, the medal recognizes outstanding experimental or theoretical work, discovery or invention in the field of quantum electronics.

Andrew Weiner
Purdue University, USA
For ground-breaking work bringing optical frequency combs to the quantum world and developing innovative applications spanning several fields, including coherent control, generation and line-by-line manipulation of frequency combs, and ultrabroadband radio-frequency photonics
Stephen D. Fantone Distinguished Service Award
Established in 1973 by the Board of Directors in memory of Stephen M. MacNeille and name in honor of Stephen D. Fantone in 2013, the award recognizes outstanding service to Optica over an extended period of time.

Alexander Gaeta
Columbia University, USA
For his role as founding editor-in chief of Optica and his commitment to excellence in the optics and photonics community.
Established in 1940 to honor Adolph Lomb, the Society’s first treasurer, for his devotion to the Society and the advancement of optics, the medal recognizes noteworthy contributions to optics at an early career stage. Contributions from any area of optics, fundamental or applied, are considered.

William Renninger
University of Rochester, USA
For pioneering contributions to opto-mechanics, ultrashort pulse generation, novel fiber lasers, and multimode nonlinear optics.
Recognizing Optica members who have served with distinction in the advancement of optics and photonics through distinguished contributions to education, research, engineering, business leadership and society. View a complete list of 2023 Fellows.

Félicie Albert
Lawrence Livermore National Lab, USA
For pioneering research on the development and applications of x-ray sources driven by laser-wakefield acceleration and leadership in the LaserNetUS initiative

Gaurav Bahl
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA
For transformative contributions to the understanding of Brillouin light scattering and developments in nonreciprocal photonics

Seth Robert Bank
The University of Texas at Austin, USA
For pioneering work on the growth of optoelectronic materials by molecular beam epitaxy

Paul Barclay
University of Calgary, Canada
For pioneering work in the field of diamond quantum nanophotonics and optomechanics, and revealing new physical phenomena using nanophotonic resonators

Yves Bellouard
Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland
For pioneering work on the fundamental understanding of non-ablative femtosecond laser interaction and processes enabling advanced materials manufacturing and microtechnologies

Alexander N. Cartwright
University of Central Florida, USA
For lifetime achievement and leadership in photonics, significant scientific contributions to optical sensing, and national impact on STEM education

Ian Coddington
National Institute of Standards and Technology, USA
For outstanding, sustained contributions to the development of fiber-based frequency combs and their application to dual-comb spectroscopy and ranging

Kenneth Crozier
University of Melbourne, Australia
For exceptionally broad and novel scientific contributions to the understanding and engineering of light-matter interactions at the nano- and micro-scales

Steve DenBaars
Materials and ECE Departments, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA
For leadership and pioneering contributions to gallium nitride-based materials and devices for solid state lighting and displays

Alfredo Dubra
Stanford University, USA
For significant improvements and advances in retinal imaging technology and widespread dissemination of adaptive optics scanning light ophthalmoscopy

Kai-Mei Fu
University of Washington and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, USA
For advances in characterization, synthesis, control and device integration of optically-active quantum point defects in crystals

Qiaoqiang Gan
King Abdullah University of Science & Technology, Saudi Arabia
For outstanding contributions in the fields of optical nanosensing and green photonics

Rachel Grange
ETH Zurich, Switzerland
For achievements in nonlinear optics and integrated photonics, particularly the use of dielectric and electro-optic materials at the nanoscale

Jungwon Kim
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Republic of Korea
For pioneering contributions to ultralow-noise optical frequency combs and their applications including large-scale timing synchronization and ultrafast time-of-flight sensors

Jonathan Klamkin
University of California, Santa Barbara, USA
For major contributions to integrated microwave photonics and photonic ICs, particularly integrated optical beam forming networks

Konstantinos Makris
University of Crete – Voutes Campus, Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser, Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas, Greece
For seminal and pioneering contributions to the fields of non-Hermitian optics and wave propagation in complex media

Arnaud Mussot
University of Lille, Laboratoire PhLAM, IRCICA, France
For pioneering contributions in nonlinear guided-wave photonics including ultrafast nonlinear propagation, frequency comb dynamics, supercontinuum generation, and frequency conversion

Valentin Petrov
Max Born Institute, Germany
For outstanding contributions in the fields of mode-locked solid-state lasers, nonlinear frequency conversion, and new laser and nonlinear optical materials

Li Qian
University of Toronto, Canada
For outstanding experimental contributions to fiber-based quantum photonics and quantum communication

Jie Qiao
Rochester Institute of Technology, USA
For advancing professional networks for women in optics and extensive volunteer work for Optica

Luca Razzari
Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique, Centre Énergie Matériaux Télécommunications, Canada
For pioneering contributions to nonlinear photonics, nanophotonics , and terahertz science

Dr. Craig W. Siders
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, USA
For contributions to the research, application, and development of high intensity lasers in both basic and applied sciences

Gerard Wysocki
Princeton University, USA
For the development of novel dispersion spectroscopic techniques, broadband semiconductor mid-infrared lasers and frequency comb sensors, and service to the scientific community

Zhiliang Yuan
Beijing Academy of Quantum Information Sciences, China
For outstanding and sustained contributions to R&D of ultra-secure quantum communication