The Optical Society Presents 19 Prestigious Awards for 2016

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Optical Society (OSA) is pleased to name the 2016 recipients of its prestigious awards and medals. The winners include: Gérard Mourou, Frederic Ives Medal/Jarus Quinn Prize; Bishnu Pal, Esther Hoffman Beller Medal; Xiang Zhang, Max Born Award; G. Michael Morris, Stephen D. Fantone Distinguished Service Award; Robert Alfano, Michael S. Feld Biophotonics Award; Demetri Psaltis, Joseph Fraunhofer Award/Robert M. Burley Prize; Valery V. Tuchin, Joseph W. Goodman Book Writing Award; Chennupati Jagadish, Nick Holonyak Jr. Award; Martin Aufmuth, Robert E. Hopkins Leadership Award; Jan P. Allebach, Edwin Land Medal; Sang-Sam Choi, Sang Soo Lee Award; Francis T. S. Yu, Emmett N. Leith Medal; Thomas Elsaesser, Ellis R. Lippincott Award; Jennifer Dionne, Adolph Lomb Medal; Brooks Pate, William F. Meggers Award; Francisco Duarte, David Richardson Medal; Dennis Levi, Edgar D. Tillyer Award; Robert W. Boyd, Charles H. Townes Award; Kishan Dholakia, R.W. Wood Prize. These award winners join an esteemed group of past recipients recognized by OSA for their outstanding contributions and leadership in the field of optics and photonics. Award ceremonies will be held throughout the year.

“Our Society presents a number of awards annually to recognize individual excellence in the field of optics and photonics”

“Our Society presents a number of awards annually to recognize individual excellence in the field of optics and photonics,” said Elizabeth Rogan, CEO, The Optical Society. “The recipients of this year’s awards and medals are paving the way to seminal discoveries which contribute to a greater level of understanding of the optical sciences. OSA is incredibly pleased to acknowledge their dedication and celebrates their success.”

The Optical Society’s President, Alan Willner, added: “This year’s distinguished recipients have written books that have contributed to the further understanding of optics and photonics, are the named inventors of patents that will aid in improving the living conditions of millions, and were lead investigators on pivotal research. Moreover, many of this year’s recipients have taken on important leadership roles within The Optical Society, and through such roles they have exemplified a dedication to our field and to their colleagues.”

The OSA award committee reviews nominations for each award, including curriculum vitae, four letters of recommendations and a statement of career accomplishment related to the award criteria, and presents its recommendations to the OSA Board of Directors. The Board has approved the following winners for 2016:

Frederic Ives Medal/Jarus Quinn Prize
Recipient: Gérard Mourou, École Polytechnique, France
The Frederic Ives Medal is the highest award conferred by OSA for overall distinction in optics. This award is being presented to Gérard Mourou for numerous pioneering contributions to the development of ultrafast and ultrahigh intensity laser science and for outstanding leadership of the international and commercial communities impacted by these technologies.

Esther Hoffman Beller Medal
Recipient: Bishnu Pal, Mahindra École Centrale, India
The Esther Hoffman Beller Medal recognizes outstanding contributions to optical science and engineering education. This year Bishnu Pal is being recognized for over thirty-five years of guided wave photonics education, including the development of graduate and continuing education teaching programs and laboratories in optoelectronics and optical communications at IIT-Delhi, and inspiring a generation of leading academic and industrial scientists.

Max Born Award
Recipient: Xiang Zhang, University of California Berkeley, USA
The Max Born Award recognizes contributions to physical optics. Xiang Zhang is being recognized for the experimental realization of major theoretical predictions in the field of metamaterials and graphene optics.

Stephen D. Fantone Distinguished Service Award
Recipient: G. Michael Morris, RPC Photonics Inc., USA
The Stephen D. Fantone Distinguished Service Award recognizes 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 in such ways as editorship of a periodical, organization of meetings, or other service to the Society. G. Michael Morris is being recognized for extraordinary contributions to The Optical Society, including the distinguished service as 2003 OSA President and his key role in the formation and leadership of the OSA Foundation.

Michael S. Feld Biophotonics Award
Recipient: Robert Alfano, City University of New York, USA
The Michael S. Feld Biophotonics Award recognizes individuals for their innovative and influential contributions to the field of biophotonics, regardless of their career stage. Robert Alfano is being recognized for his leadership and pioneering contributions in the field of biophotonics, comprising the diverse use of label-free native fluorescence, Raman spectroscopy and optical imaging for cancer detection in tissues and cells.

Joseph Fraunhofer Award/Robert M. Burley Prize
Recipient: Demetri Psaltis, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland
The Joseph Fraunhofer Award/Robert M. Burley Prize recognizes significant research accomplishments in the field of optical engineering. The award is presented to Demetri Psaltis for pioneering contributions to the fields of photonics engineering and optofluidics.

Joseph W. Goodman Book Writing Award
Recipient: Valery V. Tuchin, Saratov State University, Russia
The Joseph W. Goodman Book Writing Award recognizes a recent and outstanding book in the field of optics and photonics that has contributed significantly to research, teaching and/or the optics and photonics industry. The award is presented to Valery V. Tuchin for his book, Tissue Optics: Light Scattering Methods and Instruments for Medical Diagnosis, 3rd ed., (SPIE Press, 2015).
Award co-sponsored with SPIE.

Nick Holonyak Jr. Award
Recipient: Chennupati Jagadish, Australian National University, Australia
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, Chennupati Jagadish is being honored for his pioneering work and sustained contributions to quantum-well, quantum-dot and nanowire optoelectronic devices and their integration.

Robert E. Hopkins Leadership Award
Recipient: Martin Aufmuth, OneDollarGlasses, Germany
The Robert E. Hopkins Leadership Award 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. Martin Aufmuth is receiving this award for his leadership in establishing and implementing the project “OneDollarGlasses,” a contribution that demonstrates how optics can improve living conditions of millions of people in developing countries.

Edwin Land Medal
Recipient: Jan P. Allebach, Purdue University, USA
The Edwin Land Medal recognizes pioneering work empowered by scientific research to create inventions, technologies and products. Jan P. Allebach is being recognized for his diverse contributions in development of widely used commercial half toning algorithms for digital printing, digital image processing and color management, and also for his leadership as an educator and researcher within the field of electronic imaging. Award co-sponsored with the Society for Imaging Science and Technology.

Sang Soo Lee Award
Recipient: Sang-Sam Choi, Laser and Physics Cooperation, South Korea
The Sang Soo Lee Award recognizes outstanding leadership in founding or growing the optics and photonics community locally. Sang-Sam Choi is the recipient of this award for his revolutionary development of optical fiber in South Korea, which led to flourishing optical fiber and optical communication industries within the region. Award co-sponsored with the Optical Society of Korea.

Emmett N. Leith Medal
Recipient: Francis T. S. Yu, Pennsylvania State University, USA
The Emmett N. Leith Medal recognizes seminal contributions to the field of optical information processing. Francis T. S. Yu is being recognized for his life-long important contributions to holography, white-light holography, partially coherent signal processing, optical correlators and information optics.

Ellis R. Lippincott Award
Recipient: Thomas Elsaesser, Max Born Institute, Germany
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. Thomas Elsaesser is receiving the award for his seminal contributions to the understanding of the ultrafast coherent and incoherent vibrational dynamics of hydrogen bonds in liquids and biomolecules. Award co-sponsored by the Society for Applied Spectroscopy and the Coblentz Society.

Adolph Lomb Medal
Recipient: Jennifer Dionne, Stanford University, USA
The Adolph Lomb Medal recognizes noteworthy contributions made to optics before reaching the age of 35. Jennifer Dionne is receiving this medal for her research that led to the revealing of nanoscopic optical phenomena in metal optics.

William F. Meggers Award
Recipient: Brooks Pate, University of Virginia, USA
The William F. Meggers Award recognizes outstanding work in spectroscopy. Brooks Pate is being recognized for the invention of the chirped- pulse Fourier transform microwave technique, which revolutionized rotational spectroscopy, leading to an explosion of novel spectroscopic, astrochemical, analytical, dynamical and chemical kinetics applications.

David Richardson Medal
Recipient: Francisco Duarte, Interferometric Optics, USA
The David Richardson Medal is given for significant contributions to optical engineering, primarily in the commercial and industrial sector. Francisco Duarte is receiving the medal for his seminal contributions to the physics and technology of multiple-prism arrays for narrow-linewidth tunable laser oscillators and laser pulse compression.

Edgar D. Tillyer Award
Recipient: Dennis Levi, University of California Berkeley, USA
The Edgar D. Tillyer Award is presented to a person who has performed distinguished work in the field of vision, including (but not limited to) the optics, physiology, anatomy or psychology of the visual system. Dennis Levi is receiving the award for his ground-breaking studies of normal spatial vision, plasticity in the adult visual system and amblyopia.

Charles H. Townes Award
Recipient: Robert W. Boyd, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada; University of Rochester, USA; and University of Glasgow, UK
The Charles Hard Townes Award is given for contributions to quantum electronics. Robert W. Boyd is receiving the award for his fundamental contributions to the field of nonlinear optics, including the development of methods for controlling the velocity of light, of quantum imaging methods, and of composite nonlinear optical materials.

R.W. Wood Prize
Recipient: Kishan Dholakia, University of St. Andrews, UK
The R. W. Wood Prize is given for an outstanding discovery, scientific or technological achievement or invention. Kishan Dholakia is receiving this recognition for his pioneering research into optical micromanipulation using shaped light for interdisciplinary photonics-based applications.

About The Optical Society

Founded in 1916, The Optical Society (OSA) is the leading professional organization for scientists, engineers, students and entrepreneurs who fuel discoveries, shape real-life applications and accelerate achievements in the science of light. Through world-renowned publications, meetings and membership initiatives, OSA provides quality research, inspired interactions and dedicated resources for its extensive global network of optics and photonics experts. For more information, visit osa.org/100.