About Optica
In Memoriam: Timothy C. (Tim) Strand,
29 December 2012
In Memoriam: Timothy C. (Tim) Strand,
1948-2012, OSA Fellow Emeritus
Timothy C. (Tim) Strand, an OSA Fellow Emeritus and an OSA member for 37 years, died of non-smoker lung cancer on 29 December 2012 at his home in San Jose, California.
He was 64.
Tim received a B.A. degree in Physics (with Highest Distinction) from the University of Iowa in 1970. He attended graduate school at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) on a National Science Foundation scholarship. After receiving his Masters in Physics, he followed his professor, Dr. Adolf Lohmann, to the Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg in Erlangen, Germany to help set up the new Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Optik. Tim taught and completed his research for a Ph.D. degree while in Erlangen.
In 1976, he returned to UCSD to officially receive his Ph.D. in Applied Physics and Information Processing, and he began working at the University of Southern California (USC) as a Research Assistant Professor in the Electrical Engineering Department. In 1983, he moved to the IBM Almaden Research Center, where he worked as a Research Staff Member on machine vision, data storage and metrology. He later moved with his group to the Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Research Center.
Tim was named an OSA Fellow in 1987. He was also a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and he held 43 U.S. patents.
Tim traveled extensively for school, work and fun, often accompanied by his wife, Sue. Together they formed and maintained deep and enduring friendships with friends from many countries. Tim enjoyed nothing more than organizing trips for family members and friends, one of the most memorable of which was a trip to Turkey in 2006 to view a total solar eclipse (the fourth one viewed by Tim and Sue) with thirty family members and friends from around the world.
Tim will be remembered by family, friends and colleagues as a generous spirit dedicated to family and friends and a man of great decency, integrity and intellect, a role model for all who knew him.
Tim is survived by his wife of 45 years, Sue Strand, a son and granddaughter, and his mother.
If you would like to make a memorial donation to the OSA Foundation in honor of Timothy C. Strand, please visit www.osa-foundation.org/give. Donations may also be sent to an educational account for Tim's grandchildren. Checks should be made out to “Sue Strand” with “Educational Fund” noted; mail to Sue Strand at 6541 Crown Blvd. Suite B, San Jose CA 95120.
This obituary was contributed by the Strand family.
