28 April 2009

The Optical Society Bestows 17 Awards for 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Lyndsay Meyer
The Optical Society
+1.202.416.1435
lmeyer@osa.org

The Optical Society Bestows 17 Awards for 2009

WASHINGTON, April 28–The Optical Society (OSA) is pleased to announce the 2009 recipients of its prestigious awards and medals. The winners include: Robert L. Byer, Frederic Ives Medal/Jarus W. Quinn Endowment; Anthony E. Siegman, Esther Hoffman Beller Medal; Mordechai Segev, Max Born Award; Roland Winston, Joseph Fraunhofer Award/Robert M. Burley Prize; John E. Bowers, Nick Holonyak, Jr. Award; Duncan T. Moore, Edwin H. Land Medal; Alan E. Willner, OSA Leadership Award-New Focus/Bookham Prize; Joseph W. Goodman, Emmett N. Leith Medal; Michael D. Fayer, Ellis R. Lippincott Award; Rebekah A. Drezek, Adolph Lomb Medal; Victor G. Veselago, C. E. K. Mees Medal; Leo Hollberg, William F. Meggers Award; Eric Udd, David Richardson Medal; Gérard Albert Mourou, Charles Hard Townes Award; Joe C. Campbell, John Tyndall Award; David J. Wineland, Herbert Walther Award; Paul G. Kwiat, R. W. Wood Prize. These award winners join an esteemed group of past recipients recognized for their perseverance, novelty and foresight in the field of optics.

“OSA is honored to recognize these leaders in the field of optics,” said Elizabeth Rogan, OSA executive director. “These recipients have demonstrated tremendous ingenuity and have proved themselves to be invaluable to the understanding of optics and photonics. OSA congratulates them on their outstanding achievements.”

The review process for each of these awards is rigorous as each nominee is carefully evaluated by a selection committee. Although the criterion for each award differs, the selection process is the same. A nomination form is submitted with a brief citation summarizing the nominee’s accomplishments with a particular emphasis on those that make him/her a candidate for the award, a one-page narrative on the most significant events in the candidate’s career, a curriculum vitae and a minimum of four letters of reference for the candidate. The OSA Board of Directors appoints a committee to oversee each award or medal selection process. The committee is then responsible for the evaluation of each nominee and the selection of the person who is most deserving of the award. Finally, the committee’s selection is presented to the OSA Board of Directors for their review and final approval.

“Every year the OSA Board recognizes and honors by these awards the innovative work of outstanding OSA members,” said OSA President Tom Baer. “These recipients who hail from all areas of optics and photonics are true luminaries in the field and it is our great pleasure to recognize their distinguished accomplishments.”

The awards to be presented are as follows:

Frederic Ives Medal/Jarus W. Quinn Endowment
Recipient: Robert L. Byer, Stanford University, USA

The Frederic Ives Medal is the highest award conferred by OSA for overall distinction in optics. This award is presented to Robert L. Byer for his pioneering contributions to optical science and the commercial development of optical technologies and for wide-ranging leadership activities within the optics community.

Esther Hoffman Beller Medal
Recipient: Anthony E. Siegman, Stanford University, USA

The Esther Hoffman Beller Medal recognizes outstanding contributions to optical science and engineering education. This year, Anthony E. Siegman is awarded for his outstanding contributions to optical science and engineering education with his books, especially Lasers, and for mentoring numerous students who have become luminaries in their careers.

Max Born Award
Recipient: Mordechai Segev, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Israel

The Max Born Award recognizes contributions to physical optics. Mordechai Segev receives the Born Award for his groundbreaking contributions in the field of optical spatial solitons.

Joseph Fraunhofer Award/Robert M. Burley Prize
Recipient: Roland Winston, University of California, Merced, USA

The Joseph Fraunhofer Award/Robert M. Burley Prize recognizes accomplishments in optical engineering. The award is presented to Roland Winston for his pioneering and continuous contributions to the field of non-imaging optics, including the development of design methods and non-imaging devices for applications from solar energy to particle physics.

Nick Holonyak, Jr. Award
Recipient: John E. Bowers, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA

The Nick Holonyak, Jr. Award is given for contributions to optics based on semiconductor-based devices and optical materials, including basic science and technological applications. This year, John E. Bowers is recognized for fundamental and technological advances in active hybrid silicon photonic devices including lasers, modulators, amplifiers and silicon-based active photonic integrated circuits.

Edwin H. Land Medal
Recipient: Duncan T. Moore, University of Rochester, USA

The Edwin H. Land Medal recognizes pioneering work empowered by scientific research to create inventions, technologies and products and is co-sponsored with the Society for Imaging Science and Technology. Duncan T. Moore is this year’s recipient, cited for his invention of and leadership at a worldwide level of research and development in gradient-index optics along with extensive entrepreneurial efforts on behalf of education in optics.

OSA Leadership Award-New Focus/Bookham Prize
Recipient: Alan E. Willner, University of Southern California, USA

The OSA Leadership Award-New Focus/Bookham Prize recognizes an individual or group of optics professionals who has made a significant impact on the field of optics and/or made a significant contribution to society. This year, Alan E. Willner is awarded for several key contributions to optical science and engineering through his professional society leadership, journal editorships and education in the classroom, and in short courses at conferences.

Emmett N. Leith Medal
Recipient: Joseph W. Goodman, Stanford University, USA

The Emmett N. Leith Medal recognizes seminal contributions to the field of optical information processing. The medal is given this year to Joseph W. Goodman for his pioneering research and education in optical information processing, holography and statistical optics, and particularly for work on the statistical properties of speckle and optical interconnections.

Ellis R. Lippincott Award
Recipient: Michael D. Fayer, Stanford University, USA

The Ellis R. Lippincott Award is given for contributions to vibrational spectroscopy and is co-sponsored with the Coblentz Society and the Society for Applied Spectroscopy. Michael D. Fayer is recognized for seminal contributions to the understanding of dynamics and interactions in liquids through development and applications of ultrafast nonlinear vibrational experimental methods and spectroscopy.

Adolph Lomb Medal
Recipient: Rebekah A. Drezek, Rice University, USA

The Adolph Lomb Medal recognizes noteworthy contributions made to optics before reaching the age of 35. The award is presented to Rebekah A. Drezek for her innovative research combining biophotonics, nanotechnology and biomedical engineering to produce optical molecular-imaging technologies that are changing the way physicians screen, detect, treat and monitor cancer in vivo.

C. E. K. Mees Medal
Recipient: Victor G. Veselago, A.M. Prokhorov Institute of General Physics, Russia

The C. E. K. Mees Medal recognizes interdisciplinary and international contributions to optics. Victor G. Veselago is awarded for the invention of negative refraction, which spawned widespread international activity in the multidisciplinary field of metamaterials, including such effects as superlensing and cloaking.

William F. Meggers Award
Recipient: Leo Hollberg, USA

The William F. Meggers Award recognizes outstanding work in spectroscopy. The award is given to Leo Hollberg for his seminal contributions to the development of diode lasers as powerful spectroscopic tools, development of femtosecond combs and demonstration of unique quantum effects in the interaction between light and atoms.

David Richardson Medal
Recipient: Eric Udd, Columbia Gorge Research, LLC, USA

The David Richardson Medal recognizes contributions to optical engineering. This year, Eric Udd is awarded for developments associated with fiber optic sensor technology, including measurement of rotation, acoustics, pressure, temperature and strain, as well as contributions to the field of fiber optic smart structures.

Charles Hard Townes Award
Recipient: Gérard Albert Mourou, Ecole Nationale Superieure Techniques Avancees and Ecole Polytechnique, France

The Charles Hard Townes Award is given for contributions to quantum electronics. Gérard Albert Mourou is recognized for his ground-breaking applications of high-intensity lasers to precision micromachining, eye surgery and relativistic light-matter interactions.

John Tyndall Award
Recipient: Joe C. Campbell, University of Virginia, USA

The John Tyndall Award recognizes contributions to fiber optic technology and is co-sponsored with the IEEE Photonics Society. This year the award goes to Joe C. Campbell for his seminal contributions to the understanding, design and telecommunication systems implementation of avalanche photodiodes.

Herbert Walther Award
Recipient: David J. Wineland, National Institute of Standards and Technology, USA

The Herbert Walther Award recognizes distinguished contributions in quantum optics and atomic physics, as well as leadership in the international scientific community. It is co-sponsored with the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft. The award is presented to David J. Wineland for his seminal contributions to quantum information physics and metrology, and the development of trapped ion techniques for applications to basic quantum phenomena, plasma physics and optical clocks.

R. W. Wood Prize
Recipient: Paul G. Kwiat, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA

The R. W. Wood Prize is given for an outstanding discovery, scientific or technological achievement or invention. Paul G. Kwiat is recognized for developing sources of polarization-entangled photons that have enabled significant advances in fundamental physics and quantum information technologies, including quantum cryptography, dense-coding, quantum teleportation and optical quantum computation.

About OSA
Uniting more than 70,000 professionals from 134 countries, the Optical Society (OSA) brings together the global optics community through its programs and initiatives. Since 1916 OSA has worked to advance the common interests of the field, providing educational resources to the scientists, engineers and business leaders who work in the field by promoting the science of light and the advanced technologies made possible by optics and photonics. OSA publications, events, technical groups and programs foster optics knowledge and scientific collaboration among all those with an interest in optics and photonics. For more information, visit www.osa.org.

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