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30 January 2012
OSA Foundation Launches Endowment Campaign for New Summer Learning Program in Honor of Anthony Siegman
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Lyndsay Meyer
The Optical Society
+1.202.416.1435
lmeyer@osa.org
OSA Foundation Launches Endowment Campaign for New Summer Learning Program in Honor of Anthony Siegman
WASHINGTON, Jan. 30 – The OSA Foundation has launched a fundraising campaign for the Siegman International Summer School on Lasers, named in honor of Anthony E. Siegman, Optical Society (OSA) past president and founding member of the OSA Foundation Board. Siegman passed away in October 2011 at the age of 79.
Last year, Siegman served on the organizing committee for a new summer school program co-sponsored by OSA and the Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics (CIOMP). The program brought together more than 100 students from 13 countries to learn about the scientific community of the host country, and helped participants establish networking contacts. The recently launched OSA Foundation campaign aims to permanently fund the Siegman International Summer School on Lasers.
“Tony’s great passion for the field was evident in his teaching and mentoring of students as well as his publications, and volunteer leadership. His ability to communicate very complicated concepts in a clear, concise and humorous way was remarkable,” said Campaign Chair Gary Bjorklund. “Tony’s active involvement was a major factor in the tremendous success of the summer school program. Establishing a program in his name is a wonderful way to honor his contributions to the community and focus on inspiring young people.”
Siegman, a professor on Stanford University’s Electrical Engineering faculty for more than 40 years, was an active OSA member since joining the society in 1961. He was named an OSA Fellow in 1968 and held numerous leadership roles, including serving as OSA President in 1999, and was a Director at Large on the OSA Foundation Board of Directors from 2003-2008. He also published several books and articles on lasers and masers, and received several awards, including OSA’s R.W. Wood Prize in 1980 and Frederic Ives Medal/Jarus W. Quinn Endowment in 1987.
Siegman’s wife, Jeannie Howard Siegman, serves on the endowment campaign committee, which has a goal of raising $1.1 million by October 2012. Other members of the committee are Gary Bjorklund (chair), Thomas Baer, John Bjorkholm, Robert Byer, Geoff Fanning, Martin Fejer, Julie Fouquet, Joseph Goodman, Stephen Harris, Jim Hobart, Erich Ippen, Peter Knight, Dirk Kuizenga, Burton McMurtry, Paul Mussche, Jose Salcedo, and Steve Sheng.
More information on the program, including how to contribute, is available online at www.osa-foundation.org/Siegman.
About the OSA Foundation
The OSA Foundation was established in 2002 to support philanthropic activities that help further the Optical Society's (OSA) mission by concentrating its efforts on providing career and professional development resources and support awards & honors that recognize technical and business excellence. The grants funded by the OSA Foundation are made possible by the generous donations of its supporters as well as the dollar-for-dollar match by OSA. To learn more about and to support the OSA Foundation, please visit www.osa-foundation.org.
About OSA
Uniting more than 130,000 professionals from 175 countries, the Optical Society (OSA) brings together the global optics community through its programs and initiatives. Since 1916, OSA has worked to advance the common interests of the field providing educational resources to the scientists, engineers and business leaders who work in the field by promoting the science of light and the advanced technologies made possible by optics and photonics. OSA publications, events, technical groups and programs foster optics knowledge and scientific collaboration among all those with an interest in optics and photonics. For more information, visit www.osa.org.
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