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27 March 2020
The Optical Society Names 19 Recipients for 2020 OSA Awards
OSA honors outstanding contributions to optics and photonics
WASHINGTON—The Optical Society (OSA) is pleased to announce 19 recipients of 2020 OSA awards and medals. Throughout the year, OSA will bestow a total of 25 awards honoring distinguished achievements.
“The 2020 OSA Awardees join an outstanding group of honorees who have made tremendous contributions to the optics and photonics field and on behalf of The Optical Society, I would like to personally congratulate all winners,” said 2020 OSA President Stephen D. Fantone, founder and president of Optikos Corporation. “In addition, I must acknowledge the service and dedication of my colleagues who nominated candidates, submitted references and served on award selections committees. We truly appreciate your efforts to salute these trailblazers.”
The 2020 recipients are:
Julio Gutiérrez-Vega , Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico, Esther Hoffman Beller Medal for exceptional commitment to optics education through extraordinary academic mentoring and teaching; the development of original, engaging teaching materials and the establishment of a world-class optics graduate program;
Nader Engheta, University of Pennsylvania, USA, Max Born Award for pioneering contributions to optical metamaterials and nanoscale optics;
Susan Houde-Walter, LMD Power of Light Corp., USA, Stephen D. Fantone Distinguished Service Award, for outstanding service to OSA through numerous advisory and leadership roles, including 2005 President, Board of Directors Member and Chair of the Optics and Photonics News Editorial Advisory Committee;
Nimmi Ramanujam, Duke University, USA, Michael S. Feld Biophotonics Award, for advances in precision diagnostics and therapeutics to address global disparities in cervical and breast cancer management and mortality;
Jannick Rolland, University of Rochester, USA, Joseph Fraunhofer Award/ Robert M. Burley Prize, for numerous creative and innovative applications in several fields of optical engineering including Astronomy, Medical Imaging, Augmented & Virtual Reality, Image science, and Freeform Optics;
Kei May Lau, Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (HKUST), Hong Kong, Nick Holonyak Jr. Award, for significant contributions to hetero-epitaxy of compound semiconductors on silicon for future integrated lasers and advancing the field of light-emitting diode microdisplays;
Roberta Ramponi, IFN-CNR and Politecnico di Milano, Italy, Robert E. Hopkins Leadership Award, for leadership in the promotion and dissemination of optics and light-based technologies, and outstanding contributions in establishing a strategic vision for research and innovation in photonics in Europe;
Eric R. Fossum, Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth, USA, Edwin Land Medal (co-sponsored with the Society for Imaging Science and Technology), for the invention and commercialization of advanced CMOS optical sensor imaging technology and the Quanta Image Sensor, and for university entrepreneurial and national young inventor training activities;
Ajoy Ghatak, NASI (The National Academy of Sciences India), Prayagraj, India, Sang Soo Lee Award (co-sponsored with the Optical Society of Korea), for his seminal role in the development of fiber optics and guided wave photonics and for pioneering optics education in India;
Mitsuo Takeda, Utsunomiya University, Japan, Emmett N. Leith Medal, for contributions to the fields of optical information processing and holography through the inventions of Fourier fringe analysis and coherence holography;
Volker Deckert, Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology, Jena, Germany, Ellis R. Lippincott Award (45th anniversary) (co-sponsored with the Coblentz Society and the Society for Applied Spectroscopy), for on-going contributions to high resolution Raman spectroscopy in particular the realization of tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, allowing label-free structural surface characterisation down to the single molecule level;
Chao-Yang Lu, University of Science and Technology of China, China, Adolph Lomb Medal (80th anniversary), for significant contributions to optical quantum information technologies, especially on high-performance single-photon sources, quantum teleportation and optical quantum computing;
Daniel J. Blumenthal, University of California Santa Barbara, USA, C.E.K. Mees Medal, for innovation in ultra-low loss photonic integrated circuits and their application to ultra-low linewidth lasers, optical communications, signal processing, optical gyroscopes and atom cooling;
Tony F. Heinz, Stanford University and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, USA, William F. Meggers Award, for seminal studies of the properties and dynamics of surfaces, interfaces, and nanoscale materials by diverse spectroscopic techniques, including through the development of powerful new methods;
G. Michael Morris, RPC Photonics, Inc. & Apollo Optical Systems, Inc., USA, David Richardson Medal, for contributions to the commercial development of diffractive and beam shaping optics, along with significant achievements in entrepreneurship, the founding and development of two highly successful companies, and ongoing support of education in optical engineering;
Aaron Bauer, University of Rochester, USA, Kevin P. Thompson Optical Design Innovator Award, for theoretical, creative, and innovative design methods for freeform optics;
Wilson Geisler, University of Texas at Austin, USA, Edgar D. Tillyer Award, for pioneering theories of optimal visual processing that bring together scene statistics, physiological constraints, and task requirements to gain a new understanding of perceptual functions and eye movements;
Toshiki Tajima, University of California Irvine, USA, Charles H. Townes Medal (40th anniversary) for seminal contributions in broad and novel plasma physics and laser-based accelerator physics, introducing the concept of Laser Wakefield Acceleration;
John Dudley, Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté & CNRS FEMTO-ST, France, R.W. Wood Prize (45th anniversary) for elucidating the fundamental aspect of supercontinuum generation through careful study of phase stability and opening the way to compact supercontinuum sources and their numerous applications
These award and medal winners join an esteemed group of past recipients recognized for their outstanding contributions to the field. More information about the OSA awards program is available at osa.org/awards.
About The Optical Society
The Optical Society (OSA) is dedicated to promoting the generation, application, archiving, and dissemination of knowledge in optics and photonics worldwide. Founded in 1916, it is the leading organization for scientists, engineers, business professionals, students, and others interested in the science of light. OSA’s renowned publications, meetings, online resources, and in-person activities fuel discoveries, shape real-life applications and accelerate scientific, technical, and educational achievement.
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