Photonics & Optics: So Much Potential, So Little Recognition

A Q&A with Dr. Eugene G. Arthurs, CEO, SPIE

Dr. Eugene G. Arthurs joined the SPIE staff as executive director in November 1999. The position was retitled as CEO in 2007. Prior to this, he was president and CEO of Cleveland Crystals, Inc., president of Oriel Corporation, and led laser applications development and managed semiconductor equipment business for Quantronix Corporation. At Oriel, he played an active role on the boards of Oriel Scientific Ltd. and LOT-Oriel GmbH, and was a founder of Andor Technology Ltd., a company initially owned mostly by Oriel.

A SPIE member since 1972, Dr. Arthurs has been active in the American Society for Lasers in Medicine, of which he was a founding member; the Council for Optical Radiation Measurements; and the OSA at a local and national level. He is a member of SPIE, OSA, IEEE, and ASAE. Dr. Arthurs is on the boards of Edmund Optics and the Council of Engineering and Scientific Society Executives and the advisory boards to the Canadian Institute for Photonic Innovations, the Photochemical Research Center at Bowling Green State University, and the Scottish Universities Physics Alliance. A former congressional district organizer, he remains active in Bread for the World, an educational and public policy organization working on the basic causes of world hunger.

Photonics Online had the privilege of asking Dr. Arthurs for his view of the optics and photonics landscape, SPIE's present and future activities and goals, the status of the update to the Harnessing Light study, and the interesting new technologies and trends highlighted at SPIE shows this year.