OSA Announces 2010 Awards

The Optical Society (OSA) announced the 2010 recipients of its awards and medals for exceptional achievement in the field of optics and photonics.

“OSA’s Awards and Honors program is designed to identify and recognize excellence in the field of optics and photonics,” said James C. Wyant, president of OSA. “This year’s recipients have made contributions in diverse areas of optics—from quantum information to LCD technology and beyond. OSA is honored to acknowledge these leaders for their distinguished accomplishments.”

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 awards to be presented are as follows:

Frederic Ives Medal/Quinn Prize
Recipient: Joseph H. Eberly, University of Rochester, USA

The Frederic Ives Medal is the highest award conferred by OSA for overall distinction in optics. This award is presented to Joseph H. Eberly for his many important research contributions to quantum optics and optical physics, his leadership as a teacher and educator, and his tireless and visionary service to the optics community.

Esther Hoffman Beller Award
Recipient: Eustace Dereniak, University of Arizona College of Optical Sciences, USA

The Esther Hoffman Beller Medal recognizes outstanding contributions to optical science and engineering education. This year, Eustace Dereniak is awarded the medal for his contributions to optical sciences and engineering education, noting particularly his books on geometrical optics, infrared detectors and infrared systems, his classroom teaching and his mentoring of optics students.

Max Born Award
Recipient: Vladimir M. Shalaev, Purdue University, USA

The Max Born Award recognizes contributions to physical optics. Vladimir M. Shalaev receives the Born Award for his seminal contributions to both the theoretical framework and the experimental realization of optical metamaterials.

Distinguished Service Award
Recipient: Gary C. Bjorklund, Bjorklund Consulting, USA

The Distinguished Service Award is presented to individuals who, over an extended period of time, have served the Optical Society in an outstanding way, especially through volunteer participation in its management, operation or planning. The award is presented to Gary C. Bjorklund his long and distinguished service to the optics profession, including extraordinary leadership in guiding the OSA Foundation through its initial years and leading it to an impressive set of accomplishments.

Joseph Fraunhofer Award/Burley Prize
Recipient: Shin-Tson Wu, University of Central Florida College of Optics and Photonics, USA

The Joseph Fraunhofer Award/Burley Prize recognizes accomplishments in optical engineering. The award is presented to Shin-Tson Wu for his exceptional contribution to optical engineering through liquid crystal displays, tunable photonics devices and adaptive focus lenses.

Nick Holonyak, Jr. Award
Recipient: Dan Botez, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 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, Dan Botez is recognized for fundamental contributions to high-power semiconductor lasers including active photonic-crystal structures for high coherent power generation; single-lobe grating-surface-emitting distributed-feedback lasers; and high-power, high-efficiency sources based on aluminum-free technology.

OSA Leadership Award
Recipient: Rod C. Alferness, Bell Laboratories, Alcatel-Lucent, USA

The OSA Leadership Award recognizes an individual or group that has had a significant impact on the global optics and photonics community or has had a significant impact on society as a whole stemming from non-research oriented activities. This year, Rod C. Alferness is recognized for his broad and inspiring leadership in terms of governing premier societies, chairing prestigious conferences, leading the research arm of Bell Laboratories, and spearheading the multi-institutional MONET consortium.

Edwin H. Land Medal
Recipient: Eli Peli, Schepens Eye Research Institute, 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. Eli Peli is this year’s recipient, cited for his pioneering research, clinical, and entrepreneurial contributions to providing enhanced imagery for people with impaired vision through image processing, innovative optical designs, fiber optics, and applications of vision science.

Emmett N. Leith Medal
Recipient: Juris Upatnieks, University of Michigan/Environmental Research Institute of Michigan (retired), USA

The Emmett N. Leith Medal recognizes seminal contributions to the field of optical information processing. The medal is given this year to Juris Upatnieks for his pioneering and seminal contributions to the development of practical holography and its applications, including the co-invention (with Emmett Leith) of the off-axis hologram, the development of compact optical correlators and the introduction of edge-illuminated holograms.

Ellis R. Lippincott Award
Recipient: Martin Moskovits, University of California at Santa Barbara, 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. Martin Moskovits is recognized for his fundamental and continuing contributions to the field of Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy, and proposing its fundamental enhancing mechanism based on the excitation of localized surface plasmons.

Adolph Lomb Medal
Recipient: Jeremy O’Brien, University of Bristol, UK

The Adolph Lomb Medal recognizes noteworthy contributions made to optics before reaching the age of 35. The award is presented to Jeremy O’Brien for his seminal contributions to quantum optics, optical quantum metrology and quantum information through the foundation of the field of integrated quantum photonics.

William F. Meggers Award
Recipient: Frédéric Merkt, ETH Zürich, Switzerland

The William F. Meggers Award recognizes outstanding work in spectroscopy. The award is given to Frédéric Merkt for his ground-breaking work on the ultrahigh resolution spectroscopy of Rydberg states of atoms and molecules, and for the refinement of high-resolution photoelectron spectroscopy and its application to the determination of the structural and dynamical properties of molecular cations.

David Richardson Medal
Recipient: Kenneth E. Moore, Zemax Development Corporation, USA

The David Richardson Medal recognizes contributions to optical engineering. This year, Kenneth E. Moore is awarded for the development of state-of-the-art optical design and analysis software, combining the capabilities required by the expert designer and the ease of use and accessibility needed for an occasional optics analysis user.

Edgar D. Tillyer Award
Recipient: Stephen A. Burns, Indiana University School of Optometry, USA

The Edgar D. Tillyer Award recognizes distinguished work in the field of vision. This year, the award is given to Stephen A. Burns for his outstanding contributions to the understanding of the photoreceptor mechanisms through electrophysiology, psychophysics, optics and in vivo retinal imaging.

Charles H. Townes Award
Recipient: Atac Imamoglu, Institute of Quantum Electronics, ETH Zürich, Switzerland

The Charles H. Townes Award is given for contributions to quantum electronics. Atac Imamoglu is recognized for his seminal contributions to electromagnetically induced transparency and pioneering work on quantum information processing with quantum dots.

R. W. Wood Prize
Recipients: Henry C. Kapteyn and Margaret M. Murnane, JILA, University of Colorado, USA

The R. W. Wood Prize is given for an outstanding discovery, scientific or technological achievement or invention. Henry C. Kapteyn and Margaret M. Murnane are being recognized for their critical advances in the science and technology of high harmonics generation, with particular relevance to sub-femtosecond pulse generation and related attosecond-scale physics.

For more information, visit: www.osa.org