Awards & Honors
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Awards & Honors
Get Involved
Celebrating distinguished achievements and contributions.
Award | News Release
Graham Trevor Reed Receives 2026 John Tyndall Award
Optica and the IEEE Photonics Society have named Professor Graham Trevor Reed, University of Southampton, UK the 2026 John Tyndall Award recipient. Reed is recognized for ground-breaking contributions to silicon photonics, notably through pioneering research, advocacy, and the establishment of a widely accessible foundry platform.
“Graham Reed has been a leader in the field of silicon photonics since its inception, literally writing the book on the subject in 2024,” said James Kafka, Optica 2025 President. “His innovations have benefited everything from communications and healthcare to environmental monitoring, advanced computing, and security.” The award, one of the top honors in the fiber optics community, is named for John Tyndall, a 19th-century scientist who was the first to demonstrate the phenomenon of total internal reflection. It recognizes an individual who has made pioneering, highly significant, or continuing technical or leadership contributions to fiber optic technology.
Award | News Release
Antoine Browaeys Named 2026 Herbert Walther Award Recipient
Optica and the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft (DPG) have named Antoine Browaeys, Institut d'Optique, CNRS, France, the recipient of the 2026 Herbert Walther Award. He is recognized for the realization of arrays of single neutral atoms held in optical tweezers as a platform for exquisitely controlled quantum simulation of many-body physics, and their development as a candidate platform for scalable quantum computation.
He is widely known for his groundbreaking work on neutral atom arrays. Antoine’s innovative approach included an ensemble of individual atoms, each trapped in optical tweezers, arranged in arbitrary 2D geometries. This platform allows for the exploration of quantum many-body physics. His work is advancing the field of quantum science and holds great promise for the future.
Award | News Release
Announcing the 2026 Optica Fellows Class
The Board of Directors of Optica recently elected 121 members from 24 countries to the Society’s 2026 Fellow Class. Optica Fellows are selected based on several factors, including outstanding contributions to research, business, education, engineering, and service to Optica and our community.
“It is my pleasure to welcome the 2026 class of Optica Fellows,” said Jim Kafka, 2025 Optica President. “These members exemplify Optica’s core values through their innovative and impactful work, which is advancing the science of light. Congratulations, and thank you for your dedication to Optica and our field.”
Award | Honorary Members
Duncan T. Moore Named Honorary Member
Optica has named Duncan T. Moore an Optica Honorary Member, the most distinguished of all Optica Member categories. Moore is recognized for pioneering contributions to gradient-index optics, leadership in public policy, dedicated service to the optics community and distinguished roles in academia, government and professional societies. He is currently the Rudolf and Hilda Kingslake Emeritus Professor of Optical Engineering at The Institute of Optics, University of Rochester, USA.
“Duncan has been a leader in our field for over 50 years, inspiring future scientists and entrepreneurs, advancing optical design and engineering and helping shape public policy,” said Jim Kafka, 2025 Optica President. “In fact, Duncan was my first optics Professor, and I was part of his first group of undergraduate students at the University of Rochester. It is an honor to recognize such a dedicated and talented member of our community.”
Moore has experience in the academic, research, business and government areas of science and technology. He is an expert in gradient-index optics, computer-aided design and the manufacture of optical systems. He has been a committed member of Optica for over 50 years, serving in numerous roles, from editorial positions to program chair of Optica technical meetings, membership on the Technical Council, Annual Meeting Chair and Optica at-large Board of Directors Member. He served as society President in 1996 and was the principal motivator for Optica to become more involved in public policy issues. He continues to serve on Optica's Presidential Advisory Committee.
Award | News Release
David A. B. Miller Receives the 2025 Frederic Ives Medal/Jarus W. Quinn Prize
Optica, Advancing Optics and Photonics Worldwide, has named David A. B. Miller, Stanford University, USA, the 2025 Frederic Ives Medal/Jarus W. Quinn Prize recipient. Miller is recognized for fundamental scientific and engineering research contributions spanning multiple areas, including optics in digital systems, fundamentals of optics and waves, and complex and controllable photonic circuits.
“David Miller is a highly innovative scientist, who has made multiple fundamental contributions to optics,” said Jim Kafka, 2025 Optica President. “He is also a talented educator and dedicated volunteer, and I have had the distinct pleasure of learning from him during many of my visits to Stanford. It is a pleasure to congratulate him on this well-deserved honor."
Award | News Release
Optica names recipients of 2025 Awards and Medals
"On behalf of the Optica Board, I congratulate the 2025 Optica award and medal recipients,” said Jim Kafka. “Their outstanding work is driving our field forward. I would also like to thank those who nominated candidates, submitted references, and served on selection committees—your service and support in recognizing members of our community is greatly appreciated."
