Awards & Honors
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Awards & Honors
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Celebrating distinguished achievements and contributions.
Award | News
Please Note: Awards/Medals Nomination Deadline Now 1 September
Beginning in 2026, the nomination deadline for most awards/medals is 1 September. Please visit the Nominator's Guide for information about specific awards/medals. Reference letters are due 10 September.
Award | Honorary Members
Margaret M. Murnane Named Honorary Member
Optica has named Margaret M. Murnane an Optica Honorary Member, the most distinguished of all Optica Member categories. Murnane is recognized for pioneering advances in ultrafast laser technology and XUV science, as well as exceptional service to the optics community through sustained mentorship and leadership. She is currently a Distinguished Professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, USA.
“Margaret is a global leader in ultrafast, high-intensity laser research, but her impact extends far beyond the lab through her mentorship, volunteerism and innovative work with KMLabs,” said Gisele Bennett, Optica's 2026 President. “It is with great pleasure that I welcome her into the esteemed group of Optica Honorary Members."
She has been an international leader in the field of ultrafast optical and x-ray science for over 25 years, pioneering the development of ultrashort-pulse femtosecond lasers, the development of methods for efficiently generating soft x-ray high-harmonics and the use of these x-rays to probe the attosecond time-scale response of atoms, molecules and surfaces. Her influential work has been cited nearly 50,000 times.
Award | News Release
Optica and SPIE Announce 2026 Joseph W. Goodman Book Writing Award
Optica and SPIE are pleased to announce that 2026 Joseph W. Goodman Book Writing Award has been awarded to Close-Range Photogrammetry and 3D Imaging, 4th edition authored by Thomas Luhmann, Jade University of Applied Sciences, Germany; Stuart Robson, Stephen Kyle and Jan Böhm, University College London, UK.
The textbook Close-Range Photogrammetry and 3D Imaging was first published in 2006 as an English translation of the German work Nahbereichsphotogrammetrie. Its recent editions have kept the book relevant and on pace with the field’s rapid changes. The uniform presentation style, clear and concise illustrations and explanations of complex content, coupled with case studies to demonstrate how the technology is used in real life, make it an ideal resource for students, scientists and practitioners.
Award | News Release
Optica names recipients of 2026 Awards and Medals
Optica, Advancing Optics and Photonics Worldwide, is pleased to announce the recipients of several of its 2026 awards and medals. These awards highlight outstanding technical, research, educational, business, leadership and service accomplishments.
“The 2026 Optica award and medal recipients are celebrated for their outstanding contributions. We thank and congratulate them for advancing our field, mentoring the next generation, and serving our global community,” said Gisele Bennett, Optica's 2026 President. “In addition, I’d like to thank the dedicated selection committee volunteers, nominators, and references who make this program possible.”
Award | News Release
Tony Heinz Receives the 2026 Frederic Ives Medal/Jarus W. Quinn Prize
Optica, Advancing Optics and Photonics Worldwide,is pleased to announce that Tony F. Heinz, Stanford University and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, USA has been named the recipient of the 2026 Frederic Ives Medal/Jarus W. Quinn Prize recipient. Heinz is recognized for pioneering discoveries in photon science, outstanding leadership, and a deep commitment to education.
“Tony Heinz’s groundbreaking research opened a new branch of optics, helping us to understand surfaces, interfaces, and nanoscale materials,” said Gisele Bennett, Optica's 2026 President. “But his impact has reached even farther through his visionary leadership, mentorship, and service to the optics community. It is an honor to celebrate his lasting contributions to our field.”
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 2004,” 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.”
