2025 Charles Hard Townes Medal Winner
Get Involved
- Optica on Ukraine
- Awards & Honors
- Global Inclusivity
- Early Career Professional...
- Education Outreach
- Global Policy & Affairs
- Local Section
- Virtual Engagement
- Students
-
Technical Groups
- Bio-Medical Optics
- Fabrication, Design and Instrumentation
- Information Acquisition, Processing, Display and Perception
- Optical Interaction Science
- Photonics and Opto-Electronics
- Quantum
- Sensing
- Technical Group Leadership Volunteers
- Technical Group Webinars
- Technical Group Search
- Technical Group Prizes
- Simulight Optics Challenge
- Volunteer
- Optica on Ukraine
- Awards & Honors
- Global Inclusivity
- Early Career Professionals
- Education Outreach
- Global Policy & Affairs
- Local Section
- Virtual Engagement
- Students
-
Technical Groups
- Bio-Medical Optics
- Fabrication, Design and Instrumentation
- Information Acquisition, Processing, Display and Perception
- Optical Interaction Science
- Photonics and Opto-Electronics
- Quantum
- Sensing
- Technical Group Leadership Volunteers
- Technical Group Webinars
- Technical Group Search
- Technical Group Prizes
- Simulight Optics Challenge
- Volunteer
Optica Names Kerry John Vahala the 2025 Charles Hard Townes Medal Recipient
Optica is pleased to announce that Kerry John Vahala, California Institute of Technology, USA, has been selected as the 2025 recipient of the Charles Hard Townes Medal. Vahala is honored for pioneering contributions to the development and application of optical microresonators and nonlinear optical oscillators.
Vahala is a Professor of Applied Physics at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), where he holds the Ted and Ginger Jenkins Chair in Information Science and Technology. He also serves as the Executive Officer for the Department of Applied Physics and Materials Science. He earned his BS and PhD degrees in Applied Physics, along with an MS in Electrical Engineering, all from Caltech.
Vahala has pioneered the development and application of high-Q optical microresonators, making seminal contributions to the demonstration of on-chip nonlinear optical oscillators and high-coherence sources. His work has driven advances in integrated systems for frequency metrology and precision measurement.
In related work, Vahala’s research group was among the first to demonstrate parametric coupling via radiation pressure between optical and mechanical modes in microresonators, introducing the term "cavity optomechanics" to describe what is now a distinct area of study. He also contributed to early demonstrations of strong-coupling cavity QED phenomena in chip-based microresonators.
Vahala is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of both Optica and IEEE. He received the IEEE Sarnoff Medal, the Alexander von Humboldt Award, a NASA achievement award, and Optica’s Paul F. Forman Team Engineering Excellence Award for the 2-photon optical clock collaboration.
Established in 1980, the Townes Medal recognizes an individual or group for outstanding experimental or theoretical work, discovery or invention in the field of quantum electronics. The medal honors Charles Hard Townes, whose pioneering contributions to masers and lasers led to the development of the field of quantum electronics. Bell Laboratories, Hewlett-Packard, The Perkin Fund and students and colleagues of Charles Townes endowed the award.
About Optica
Optica, Advancing Optics and Photonics Worldwide, is the society dedicated to promoting the generation, application, archiving and dissemination of knowledge in the field. Founded in 1916, it is the leading organization for scientists, engineers, business professionals, students and others interested in the science of light. Optica's renowned publications, meetings, online resources and in-person activities fuel discoveries, shape real-life applications and accelerate scientific, technical and educational achievement.
