FiO 2025 Honorees
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FiO 2025 Honorees
Optica is proud to recognize the outstanding achievements of our community.
Please join us in congratulating the Award/Medal winners and Fellows recognized during FiO.
Stephen D. Fantone Distinguished Service Award
Established in 1973 and named in honor of Stephen D. Fantone in 2013, the award is presented to individuals who, over an extended period of time, have served the society in an outstanding way, especially through volunteer participation in its management, operation or planning in such ways as editorship of a periodical, organization of meetings, or other services.
Thomas M. Baer
Stanford University, USA
For over three decades of dedicated service and visionary leadership to Optica, including broadening Optica’s topical focus to include Biomedical Optics and expanding Optica’s global footprint and recognition through public policy programs such as the National Photonics Initiative and the Global Environmental Measurement and Monitoring Initiative
Michael S. Feld Biophotonics Award
Established in 2012 to honor Michael Feld for his fundamental contributions to applications of photonics technologies to solving biomedical problems. The award recognizes individuals for their innovative and influential contributions to the field of biophotonics, regardless of their career stage.
Stephen A. Boppart
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA
For pioneering research contributions, leadership, and entrepreneurship in developing and translating novel label-free biophotonics and biomedical optical imaging technologies for clinical applications and biological discovery
Paul F. Forman Team Engineering Excellence Award
Established in 1989 and named in honor of Paul F. Forman in 2007, who, among many other accomplishments, raised the visibility of optical engineering, the award recognizes team technical achievements in optical engineering.
The CORNERSTONE Photonics Innovation Centre team
UK
For sustained delivery of a truly open-source silicon photonics foundry that follows the ethos of flexibility, collaboration, and openness to support researchers around the world
Joseph Fraunhofer Award/Robert M. Burley Prize
Established in 1982 to honor Joseph Fraunhofer for his contributions to the field of optical engineering, the prize was added in 1992 in memory of Robert M. Burley, who exemplified many of the highest attributes of the optical engineer and was the first recipient of the Fraunhofer Award. The award recognizes significant research accomplishments in the field of optical engineering.
Juerg Leuthold
ETH Zurich, Switzerland
For pioneering plasmonics based devices and in particular developing broadband modulators and detectors with highest bandwidths
Nick Holonyak Jr. Award
Established in 1997 to honor Nick Holonyak Jr., who has made distinguished contributions to the field of optics through the development of semiconductor based light emitting diodes and semiconductor lasers, the award honors significant contributions to optics based on semiconductor-based optical devices and materials, including basic science and technological applications.
Zetian Mi
University of Michigan, USA
For outstanding contributions to the engineering of wide energy gap nanostructures for light emission and energy generation applications
Leonard Mandel Quantum Optics Award
Established in 2023, this award honors Leonard Mandel for his seminal contributions to the field of quantum optics and for advancing our understanding of the quantum aspects of light. It recognizes distinguished contributions to the foundations of statistical and quantum optics, and/or applications in advanced technologies.
James Franson
University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD, USA
For pioneering work on nonlocal interferometry and the use of nonclassical states of light for quantum information processing
William F. Meggers Award
Established in 1970 to honor William Meggers for his notable contributions to the field of spectroscopy and metrology, this medal recognizes outstanding work in spectroscopy.
John Doyle
Harvard University, USA
For developing pioneering methods enabling a broad range of spectroscopic studies, including cryogenic cooling of large molecules and radicals, novel probes of chirality, slow molecular beams, and laser cooling of large molecules
David Richardson Medal
Established in 1966 to honor David Richardson’s unique contributions to applied optics. It recognizes those who have made significant contributions to optical engineering, primarily in the commercial and industrial sector.
Marija Strojnik (Scholl)
Optical Research, Mexico
For developing seminal optical testing techniques, including vectorial shearing interferometer and rotational shearing interferometer in support of commercial applications, and for academic leadership in optical engineering
Kevin P. Thompson Optical Design Innovator Award
Established in 2017 in memory of Kevin P. Thompson, who, among many other accomplishments, was known for leading breakthroughs in the understanding of the aberration fields of a new class of truly nonsymmetric optical systems using freeform optical surfaces, the award recognizes contributions to lens design, optical engineering, or metrology at an early career stage.
Rob Devlin
Metalenz Inc, USA
For critical contributions to foundational optical metasurface design, pioneering leadership to commercialize metasurface optics, and product development of the first polarization sensor for consumer markets, leveraging on semiconductor foundries for mass production of metaoptics
Edgar D. Tillyer Award
Established in 1953 to honor of Edgar D. Tillyer’s important contributions to the advancement of better vision and the optical sciences. It 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.
Susana Marcos
University of Rochester, New York, USA
For contributions to our basic understanding of the effect of the eye's optics on vision including the passage of light through the cornea and lens and into the photoreceptors where vision begins
Optica Treasurer's Award
Established in 2016 this award recognizes an Optica staff member who makes significant contributions to organizational excellence, promotes and enacts innovative solutions or exemplifies inspirational leadership.
Rosita Banks-Taylor
Optica, USA
For exceptional support as a leader and collaborator across multiple departments and for data analytics expertise, which has had a significant impact organization-wide by streamlined processes, improved efficiency, and fostered collaboration
R.W. Wood Prize
Established in 1975 to honor the many contributions that R.W. Wood made to optics, the prize recognizes an outstanding discovery, scientific or technical achievement, or invention in the field of optics.
Fiorenzo Omenetto
Silklab, Tufts University, USA
For pioneering silk-based optics, photonics, and optoelectronics with uses across multiple disciplines at the interface of biology and technology including applications in sustainability, global health, and food safety
2025 Fellows
Recognizing Optica members who have served with distinction in the advancement of optics and photonics through distinguished contributions to education, research, engineering, business leadership and society. View a complete list of 2025 Fellows.
Caroline Boudoux
Polytechnique Montréal, Canada
For pioneering contributions to the development of fiber optics assemblies for endoscopic applications and outstanding educational contributions
Carla Figueira de Morisson Faria
University College London, UK
For outstanding and sustained contributions to the theory of laser-matter interaction, and for extraordinary and innovative outreach efforts
S.K. Sundaram
Alfred University, USA
For contributions to the development of the structure-terahertz properties relationship and ultrafast laser modification of glasses and ceramics and optical materials education
Xin Yuan
Westlake University, China
For seminal contributions to snapshot compressive computational imaging, including theoretical analysis, system design, reconstruction algorithms, and applications
