Bernard J. Couillaud

Bernard J. Couillaud, a native of France, earned his PhD in Laser Physics from the University of Bordeaux, France, and later became a full professor there. During his time at Bordeaux, a partnership with colleague André Ducasse pioneered continuous wave and pulsed dye lasers. He completed a three-year visiting fellowship at Stanford University, USA that yielded, in collaboration with T.W. Hansch, the Hansch-Couillaud technique of laser frequency stabilization.

Couillaud joined Coherent in 1983 and was instrumental in the development of numerous Dye, DPSS, and Ti:S lasers during his tenure as Director of Engineering, Business Unit Manager, and Vice President of the Laser Group. Along the arc of this extraordinary academic and industrial career, he authored 65 publications and received numerous patents. He became President and CEO of Coherent in 1996 and served in that capacity until 2002, then became Chairman of the Board of Directors until his retirement in 2007.

He gave more than a lifetime’s worth of dedication and achievements to physics, lasers, and photonics, and remains an inspiration to everyone who called him a friend, colleague, boss, or mentor. After his untimely death in 2017, Coherent and Optica partnered to create the Bernard J. Couillaud Prize in Ultrafast Lasers to honor his extraordinary contributions and help support a new generation of innovators.