Optical Society Bestows 17 Awards For 2009
Washington -- The
Optical Society (OSA) is pleased to announce
the 2009 recipients of its prestigious awards
and medals. The winners include: Robert L. Byer, Frederic Ives Medal/Jarus
W. Quinn Endowment; Anthony E. Siegman, Esther Hoffman Beller Medal;
Mordechai Segev, Max Born Award; Roland Winston, Joseph Fraunhofer
Award/Robert M. Burley Prize; John E. Bowers, Nick Holonyak, Jr. Award;
Duncan T. Moore, Edwin H. Land Medal; Alan E. Willner, OSA Leadership
Award-New Focus/Bookham Prize; Joseph W. Goodman, Emmett N. Leith Medal;
Michael D. Fayer, Ellis R. Lippincott Award; Rebekah A. Drezek, Adolph
Lomb Medal; Victor G. Veselago, C. E. K. Mees Medal; Leo Hollberg, William
F. Meggers Award; Eric Udd, David Richardson Medal; Gérard Albert
Mourou, Charles
Hard Townes Award;
Joe C. Campbell, John Tyndall Award; David J. Wineland, Herbert
Walther Award; Paul G. Kwiat, R. W. Wood Prize. These
award winners join an esteemed group of past recipients recognized for their
perseverance, novelty and foresight in the field of optics.
"OSA
is honored to recognize these leaders in the field of optics," said Elizabeth
Rogan, OSA executive director. "These recipients have demonstrated tremendous
ingenuity and have proved themselves to be invaluable to the understanding of
optics and photonics. OSA congratulates them on their outstanding
achievements."
The
review process for each of these awards is rigorous as each nominee is carefully
evaluated by a selection committee. Although the criterion for each award
differs, the selection
process is the same. A nomination form is submitted with a brief citation
summarizing the nominee's accomplishments with a particular emphasis on those
that make him/her a candidate for the award, a one-page narrative on the most
significant events in the candidate's career, a curriculum vitae and a minimum
of four letters of reference for the candidate. The OSA Board of Directors
appoints a committee to oversee each award or medal selection process. The
committee is then responsible for the evaluation of each nominee and the
selection of the person who is most deserving of the award. Finally, the
committee's selection is presented to the OSA Board of Directors for their
review and final approval.
"Every
year the OSA Board recognizes and honors by these awards the innovative work of
outstanding OSA members," said OSA President Tom Baer. "These recipients who
hail from all areas of optics and photonics are true luminaries in the field and
it is our great pleasure to recognize their distinguished accomplishments."
The
awards to be presented are as follows:
Frederic
Ives Medal/Jarus W. Quinn Endowment
Recipient:
Robert L. Byer, Stanford University, USA
The
Frederic Ives Medal is the highest award conferred by OSA for overall
distinction in optics. This award is presented to Robert L. Byer for his
pioneering contributions to optical science and the commercial development of
optical technologies and for wide-ranging leadership activities within the
optics community.
Esther
Hoffman Beller Medal
Recipient:
Anthony E. Siegman, Stanford University, USA
The
Esther Hoffman Beller Medal recognizes outstanding contributions to optical
science and engineering education. This year, Anthony E. Siegman is awarded for
his outstanding contributions to optical science and engineering education with
his books, especially Lasers, and for mentoring numerous students who
have become luminaries in their careers.
Max
Born Award
Recipient:
Mordechai Segev, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Israel
The
Max Born Award recognizes contributions to physical optics. Mordechai Segev
receives the Born Award for his groundbreaking contributions in the field of
optical spatial solitons.
Joseph
Fraunhofer Award/Robert M. Burley Prize
Recipient:
Roland
Winston, University of California, Merced, USA
The Joseph Fraunhofer Award/Robert M. Burley Prize recognizes accomplishments in
optical engineering. The award is presented to Roland Winston for his pioneering
and continuous contributions to the field of non-imaging optics, including the
development of design methods and non-imaging devices for applications from
solar energy to particle physics.
Nick
Holonyak, Jr. Award
Recipient:
John E. Bowers, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA
The
Nick Holonyak, Jr. Award is given for contributions to optics based on
semiconductor-based devices and optical materials, including basic science and
technological applications. This year, John E. Bowers is recognized for
fundamental and technological advances in active hybrid silicon photonic devices
including lasers, modulators, amplifiers and silicon-based active photonic
integrated circuits.
Edwin
H. Land Medal
Recipient:
Duncan T. Moore, University of Rochester, USA
The Edwin H. Land Medal recognizes pioneering work empowered by scientific
research to create inventions, technologies and products and is co-sponsored
with the Society for Imaging Science and Technology. Duncan T. Moore is
this year's recipient, cited for his invention of and leadership at a
worldwide level of research and development in gradient-index optics along with
extensive entrepreneurial efforts on behalf of education in optics.
OSA
Leadership Award-New Focus/Bookham Prize
Recipient:
Alan E. Willner, University of Southern California, USA
The
OSA Leadership Award-New Focus/Bookham Prize recognizes an individual or group
of optics professionals who has made a significant impact on the field of optics
and/or made a significant contribution to society. This year, Alan E. Willner is
awarded for several key contributions to optical science and engineering through
his professional society leadership, journal editorships and education in the
classroom, and in short courses at conferences.
Emmett
N. Leith Medal
Recipient:
Joseph W. Goodman, Stanford University, USA
The
Emmett N. Leith Medal recognizes seminal contributions to the field of optical
information processing. The medal is given this year to Joseph W. Goodman for
his pioneering research and education in optical information processing,
holography and statistical optics, and particularly for work on the statistical
properties of speckle and optical interconnections.
Ellis
R. Lippincott Award
Recipient:
Michael D. Fayer, Stanford University, USA
The
Ellis R. Lippincott Award is given for contributions to vibrational spectroscopy
and is co-sponsored with the Coblentz Society and the Society for Applied
Spectroscopy. Michael D. Fayer is recognized for seminal contributions to the
understanding of dynamics and interactions in liquids through development and
applications of ultrafast nonlinear vibrational experimental methods and
spectroscopy.
Adolph
Lomb Medal
Recipient:
Rebekah A. Drezek, Rice University, USA
The
Adolph Lomb Medal recognizes noteworthy contributions made to optics before
reaching the age of 35. The award is presented to Rebekah A. Drezek for her
innovative research combining biophotonics, nanotechnology and biomedical
engineering to produce optical molecular-imaging technologies that are changing
the way physicians screen, detect, treat and monitor cancer in vivo.
C.
E. K. Mees Medal
Recipient:
Victor G. Veselago, A.M. Prokhorov Institute of General Physics, Russia
The
C. E. K. Mees Medal recognizes interdisciplinary and international contributions
to optics. Victor G. Veselago is awarded for the invention of negative
refraction, which spawned widespread international activity in the
multidisciplinary field of metamaterials, including such effects as superlensing
and cloaking.
William
F. Meggers Award
Recipient:
Leo Hollberg, USA
The
William F. Meggers Award recognizes outstanding work in spectroscopy. The award
is given to Leo Hollberg for his seminal contributions to the development of
diode lasers as powerful spectroscopic tools, development of femtosecond combs
and demonstration of unique quantum effects in the interaction between light and
atoms.
David
Richardson Medal
Recipient:
Eric
Udd, Columbia Gorge Research, LLC, USA
The
David Richardson Medal recognizes contributions to optical engineering. This
year, Eric Udd is awarded for developments associated with fiber optic sensor
technology, including measurement of rotation, acoustics, pressure, temperature
and strain, as well as contributions to the field of fiber optic smart
structures.
Charles
Hard Townes Award
Recipient:
Gérard Albert Mourou, Ecole Nationale Superieure Techniques Avancees and Ecole
Polytechnique, France
The
Charles Hard Townes Award is given for contributions to quantum electronics. Gérard
Albert Mourou is recognized for his ground-breaking applications of
high-intensity lasers to precision micromachining, eye surgery and relativistic
light-matter interactions.
John
Tyndall Award
Recipient:
Joe C. Campbell, University of Virginia, USA
The
John Tyndall Award recognizes contributions to fiber optic technology and is
co-sponsored with the IEEE Photonics Society. This year the award goes to Joe C.
Campbell for his seminal contributions to the understanding, design and
telecommunication systems implementation of avalanche photodiodes.
Herbert
Walther Award
Recipient:
David J. Wineland, National Institute of Standards and Technology, USA
The
Herbert Walther Award recognizes distinguished contributions in quantum optics
and atomic physics, as well as leadership in the international scientific
community. It is co-sponsored with the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft.
The award is presented to David J. Wineland for his seminal contributions to
quantum information physics and metrology, and the development of trapped ion
techniques for applications to basic quantum phenomena, plasma physics and
optical clocks.
R.
W. Wood Prize
Recipient:
Paul G. Kwiat, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA
The
R. W. Wood Prize is given for an outstanding discovery, scientific or
technological achievement or invention. Paul G. Kwiat is recognized for
developing sources of polarization-entangled photons that have enabled
significant advances in fundamental physics and quantum information
technologies, including quantum cryptography, dense-coding, quantum
teleportation and optical quantum computation.
SOURCE: Optical Society of America