Howard R. Schlossberg was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1938. He attended MIT and got his bachelor’s degree in 1960 in physics. He then attended Brandeis for his graduate work with a National Defense Education Fellowship. He then returned to MIT to study under Ali Javan, but had a close relationship with Charles Townes as well. He earned his doctorate degree in 1967.

Upon graduating, he took a job at Avco Everett Research Labs in Everett, Massachusetts. In 1968, he moved to the Air Force in the Cambridge Lab, where he stayed until 1978. He then began work at the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, where he remained for over 30 years. In his career, he oversaw he funding of grants for cutting edge research that strongly influenced physics.

Schlossberg retired in 2014, but is still active in the community, attending conferences and meetings to connect and learn about new research. He was awarded the Hopkins Award “for providing outstanding services to the optical community and OSA as a program manager of AFOSR by exercising a unique vision in advocating and supporting pioneering research and graduate education in the field of optics.” Schlossberg is a Fellow of OSA.