Boris Ya. Zeldovich was known for his significant contributions to the nonlinear optics community, specifically in the areas of phase conjugation and giant nonlinearities in liquid crystals. His pioneering work has had a lasting impact in the field, and his passion for teaching has inspired students at UCF CREOL for more than two decades.

Zeldovich received his Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences degree from the Lebedev Physics Institute in Moscow, Russia. Zeldovich joined the faculty of the University of Central Florida in 1994 and was an Emeritus Professor of Optics and Photonics and Physics at the time of his death.

As a result of his research, Zeldovich was able to predict and discover, experimentally, the giant optical nonlinearity of liquid crystals, which is noted to be 10¹⁰ times stronger than for usual media. Zeldovich is the co-discoverer of optical phase conjugation. His most recent work was focused on pursuing both theoretical and experimental research programs on wave propagation in multimode optical waveguides and irregularly inhomogeneous media using the methods of nonlinear optics and dynamic holography for the processing of images transmitted through those media. Zeldovich was also co-founder of BEAM, Inc., a startup company through CREOL, and contributed the mathematical models for the startup, OptiGrate.

Zeldovich received numerous awards during his career including the USSR State Prize, status as an elected member of the USSR Academy of Sciences, and the Max Born Award. In 1998, Zeldovich was elected a Fellow of the Society. He was a member for more than 25 years, served as a committee volunteer, and was a long-time attendee of the Frontiers in Optics Conference.

In addition to his significant scientific contributions, Zeldovich was known for his love of teaching and exposing students, from young children to college age, to mathematics and physics. He volunteered to teach mathematics to young children and grandchildren of CREOL faculty and conducted self-funded weekend electronics workshops for middle school students, suppling them with electronic parts and devices.