1981 OSA President Anthony DeMaria was born Italy in 1931 and received his B.S. and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of Connecticut in 1956 and 1965, respectively. During his 50+ year career DeMaria earned his place among the leaders of the laser field with his demonstration of the first picosecond modelocked laser. His discoveries have influenced the study of atomic and molecular dynamics, nonlinear optics, and plasma physics.

DeMaria is chief scientist with Coherent-DEOS, LLC, in Bloomfield, Conn., which manufactures lasers used primarily in material processing applications. He is also a Distinguished Professor-in-Residence in the University of Connecticut Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. He founded DeMaria Electro-Optics Systems, Inc. (DEOS) in 1994 after purchasing intellectual property of the CO2 laser unit of Hamilton Standard. He was chairman and CEO of DEOS, polishing the company into the world's leading manufacturer of sealed-off, RF excited waveguide CO2 lasers for industrial and governmental applications. Coherent, Inc. purchased the company in 2001.

Before founding DEOS, DeMaria devoted 37 years to the Hamilton Standard (now Hamilton Sundstrand) division of United Technologies Corporation and to the United Technologies Research Center.

In addition to membership in the National Academies of Engineering and Sciences, DeMaria is a co-founder, member, and past president of the Connecticut Academy of Science & Engineering and the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences. DeMaria holds 55 U.S. patents. He has lectured throughout the world and consulted for the U.S. Departments of Defense, Energy, and Commerce. 

DeMaria is a Fellow of APS, IEEE, OSA, and SPIE. He is also a past president SPIE. He has received the IEEE Morris N. Liebmann Memorial Award, the Connecticut Medal of Technology, OSA’s Frederic Ives Medal, and the University of Connecticut Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award. He is also a member of the University of Connecticut’s Academy of Distinguished Engineers.