The Edgar D. Tillyer Award is presented to an individual who has performed distinguished work in the field of vision, including (but not limited to) the optics, physiology, anatomy or psychology of the visual system. In 2020, this recognition was awarded to Dr. Wilson S. Geisler at University of Texas at Austin for pioneering theories of optimal visual processing that bring together scene statistics, physiological constraints, and task requirements to gain a new understanding of perceptual functions and eye movements. Join us for this session to hear Dr. Geisler's lecture, which will be followed by a question and answer session.

About Our Presenter: Wilson S. Geisler, University of Texas at Austin

Wilson (Bill) Geisler is the David Wechsler Regents Chair in Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. He obtained an undergraduate degree in psychology from Stanford University in 1971 and a doctoral degree in mathematical and experimental psychology from Indiana University in 1975. He is a fellow of Optica (formerly OSA), a fellow of the Society of Experimental Psychologists, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Geisler’s research combines behavioral studies, neurophysiological studies, studies of natural stimuli, mathematical analysis, and computational modeling. He is best known for his work on the mathematics of how to perform perceptual tasks optimally (“ideal observer theory”), on the relationship between the statistical properties of natural stimuli and visual performance, on the nature of eye movements in natural tasks, and on the relationship between visual performance and the neurophysiology of the visual system.