Monroe Community College (MCC) in Rochester, N.Y. has received three philanthropic investments, supporting the nation’s first associate degree program in optical systems technology awarded by a community college.
(From left:) Gretchen Wood, Monroe Community College (MCC) vice president of institutional advancement and MCC foundation executive director; donors Barbara and John Bruning; and MCC president DeAnna Burt-Nanna. Courtesy of MCC.
In recognition of a $3 million investment from Sydor Optics, MCC's Advanced Technology Center (ATC) will be named the Sydor Optics Advanced Technology Center. Additional investment, from John and Barbara Bruning, longtime optics industry leaders, will support the newly established Barbara and John H. Bruning Optical Systems Technology Endowed Directorship with an endowed gift of $1 million to support the leadership of the program. Professor Alexis Vogt currently holds the directorship.
A third investment, from SPIE in the amount of $150,000, will support naming a newly established SPIE Optical Systems Lab within the planned facility.
MCC broke ground this spring on the $69 million ATC at the school's Brighton Campus. The 110,000-sq-ft facility, opening next fall will expand MCC’s advanced technology programs. The announcements additionally come in the lead-up to SPIE Optifab; the event is returning to Rochester, N.Y. on Oct. 21 and runs through Oct. 23.
MCC's optics technology program has experienced 2260% growth in the last 10 years, from five students in Fall 2014 to more than 130 in Fall 2025.
