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Celebrating distinguished achievements and contributions.
Award | Nominations
There is still time to recognize your colleagues
The nomination deadline for the following awards has been extended until 1 November. Please take advantage of this opportunity to celebrate and honor the outstanding achievements of those in our field.
Robert E. Hopkins Leadership Award - Recognizing significant impact on the global optics and photonics community or on society as a whole stemming from non-research oriented activities.
Sang Soo Lee Award - Recognizing outstanding leadership in founding or growing the optics and photonics community locally. This award is co-presented with the Optical Society of Korea.
Edwin H. Land Medal - Recognizing pioneering work empowered by scientific research to create inventions, technologies, and products. This medal is co-presented by Optica and the Society for Imaging Science and Technology (IS&T).
David Richardson Medal - Recognizing significant contributions to optical engineering, primarily in the commercial and industrial sector.
Leonard Mandel Quantum Optics Award - Recognizing distinguished contributions to the foundations of statistical and quantum optics and applications in advanced technologies.
Award | News Release
James C. Wyant Named Optica Honorary Member
James C. Wyant, Emeritus Professor and Founding Dean at the University of Arizona, Wyant College of Optical Sciences, USA, has been a leader in the classroom, lab and boardroom for over 30 years. His technical innovation and entrepreneurship changed the field of optical metrology and developed tools that enabled many disciplines of precision manufacturing. Optica (formerly OSA), Advancing Optics and Photonics Worldwide, announces that Wyant has been named an Optica Honorary Member.
Award | News Release
Optica announces Leonard Mandel Quantum Optics Award
Optica announces the creation of the Leonard Mandel Quantum Optics Award to recognize distinguished contributions to the foundations of statistical and quantum optics and applications in advanced technologies. Established through the Optica Foundation, this award honors Mandel’s legacy in the field of quantum optics.
“Dr. Mandel's work has influenced the evolution of the field of statistical and quantum optics, from the formative book Optical Coherence and Quantum Optics that he wrote with Emil Wolf to his role in furthering the efforts of the broader community,” said Michal Lipson, Optica 2023 President. “This award extends that legacy by fueling next-generation quantum advancements.”
This award joins other Optica initiatives that support the rapidly expanding fields of quantum optics and quantum-enabled technologies, including the Quantum 2.0 conference, Optica Quantum, a new journal dedicated to highly selective results in quantum information science and technology, and the Theodor W. Hänsch Prize in Quantum Optics, which focuses on early-career efforts and the applications of optics-enabled quantum technologies.
Award | News Release
Susana Marcos Awarded the Edwin H. Land Medal
Optica and the Society for Imaging Science and Technology (IS&T) are pleased to announce that Susana Marcos, the David R. Williams Director of the Center for Visual Science, University of Rochester, USA, has been awarded the Edwin H. Land Medal.
Marcos, a highly regarded researcher in the field of visual optics and ocular imaging, is a pioneer in the development of new techniques for the evaluation of the eye. Her work is aimed at understanding the interplay of structural, biomechanical and optical properties of the eye. Marcos studies the impact of those properties on retinal image quality, and the limits that optics impose on visual functions and perception, specifically with applications in myopia, presbyopia, cataract and corneal corrections.
Recognizing pioneering work empowered by scientific research to create inventions, technologies, and products, the Edwin H. Land Medal was established in 1992 to honor his unique career as a scientist, technologist, industrialist, humanist and public servant.
Award | News Release
Optica Names 17 Recipients for 2023 Awards and Medals
Optica is pleased to announce the recipients of several of its 2023 awards and medals. These awards celebrate those in our field who are making significant technical, research, education, business, leadership and service accomplishments.
"On behalf of the Optica Board and membership, I congratulate the 2023 Awardees for their innovative and pioneering contributions to our field and Society," said Michal Lipson, Optica's 2023 President. "I would also like to thank those who nominated candidates, submitted references and served on selection committees—your service and support of this program is valued and appreciated."
Award | News Release
Optica Awards Robert Boyd the 2023 Frederic Ives Medal/Jarus W. Quinn Prize
Optica has named Robert Boyd, University of Ottawa, Canada and University of Rochester, USA, the 2023 Frederic Ives Medal/Jarus W. Quinn Prize recipient.
Boyd is recognized for pioneering contributions to nonlinear optics, including slow light, quantum imaging, and the development of nanocomposite optical materials and metamaterials.
Recognizing overall distinction in optics, this is the highest award of the Society.
Award | Honorary Members
Robert Byer Named Optica Honorary Member
Optica names Bob Byer, Stanford University, USA, as an Optica Honorary Member.
He is recognized for his pioneering contributions to the scientific and technological foundations of lasers and nonlinear optics, his dedicated service to the optics community, and his leadership in academia and professional societies.
"Bob Byer has made extraordinary contributions to laser science and technology through his work as a researcher, educator, mentor, and leader. His exceptional contributions to our field and Society will have a lasting impact," said Michal Lipson, Optica's 2023 President. "It is a great pleasure to welcome Bob into this group of distinguished Optica Members."
Honorary Membership is the most distinguished of all Optica Member categories and is awarded by a unanimous vote of the Optica Board of Directors to individuals who have made seminal contributions to the field of optics. Their number is limited to two-thousandths (2/1000) of the total membership of the Society.
