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07 October 2020

The Optical Society Announces 2021 Fellows Class

WASHINGTON – The Optical Society Board of Directors, at its recent meeting in September, elected 118 members from 24 countries to the Society’s 2021 Fellow Class. This year’s cohort reflects a broad and diverse range of achievements in the field of optics and photonics. Fellows are selected based on several factors, including distinguished contributions to education, research, engineering, business and our community. It is worthwhile to note that women account for 19%, or 23 members of the new Class, which is the largest number of women ever elected in one year.  

“Congratulations to the 2021 Fellows,” said 2020 President Stephen Fantone. “Your election, by your peers, is affirmation of your impressive accomplishments within our field. Thank you for your dedication to OSA and for advancing the science of light.”

Fellows are members who have served with distinction in the advancement of optics and photonics. The Fellow Members Committee, led by Deborah Kane, Macquarie University, Australia, reviewed a record 261 nominations submitted by current OSA Fellows. The committee extends their thanks to all the nominators and references who participated this year. As Fellows can account for no more than 10 percent of the total  membership, the election process is highly competitive. Candidates are recommended by the Fellow Members Committee and then submitted for review and approval by the Awards Council and Board of Directors.

The new Fellows will be honored at  conferences and meetings throughout 2021.

2021 Fellows Class Members:

Ritesh Agarwal, University of Pennsylvania, USA
For pioneering contributions to advancing complex light-matter interactions in low-dimensional semiconductors, phase-change and topological materials for applications in integrated photonics

Igor Aharonovich, University of Technology Sydney, Australia
For outstanding contributions to the research and development of quantum emitters in atomically thin materials and wide bandgap semiconductors

Mohamed-Slim Alouini, King Abdullah Univ of Sci & Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia
For outstanding contributions to optical wireless communications

Hatice Altug, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Switzerland
For pioneering contributions to nano-optics, manipulation of light on-chip, the development of innovative nanobiosensors and sensing techniques, and exemplary contributions to the scientific community and OSA

Aleksandra Boskovic, Corning Inc, USA
For technical leadership in industrial research in optical physics and development of optical fibers, optical materials and products

Audrey Bowden, Vanderbilt University, USA
For outstanding achievements in the development of optical devices, image processing algorithms and systems for biomedicine

Camille-Sophie Brès, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland
For the development of novel photonic systems for efficient light generation with enhanced functionalities

Dr. Arnaud Brignon, Thales Research & Technology, France
For outstanding contributions to nonlinear wave mixing, adaptive laser beam shaping, and coherent beam combining of fs laser amplifiers

Jake Bromage, University of Rochester, USA
For significant and numerous contributions to the development and characterization of ultra-intense lasers and advanced Raman fiber-amplifiers for broadband telecommunications

Elliott Brown, Ph.D., Wright State University, USA
For pioneering contributions and leadership in the development and application of terahertz photomixers and diodes for spectroscopy and imaging

E. Michael Campbell, Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, USA
For leadership and technical contributions to the development of inertial confinement fusion and the laser and optical technology needed in that effort

Tal Carmon, Tel Aviv University and Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, Israel
For impacting optical-interaction sciences by introducing hybrid micro-cavities where light exchange energy with mechanical vibrations, sound, water waves, or plasma

Calvin C. K. Chan, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
For outstanding contributions to the enabling technologies for WDM passive optical networks, optical performance monitoring and signal processing in optical fiber transmission

Frank Chang, Source Photonics, USA
For outstanding and sustained contributions to and leadership on advancing physical-layer integrated circuit devices and optical transceivers in transmission and data center applications

Yu-Lun Chueh, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan
For contributions to nanomaterials/nanostructures in solar cells and applications of low-dimensional nanomaterials in green- and nano-photonics

Timothy Day, DRS Daylight Solutions, USA
For business leadership and commercializing pioneering products that have catalyzed new areas of research and applications of optics and photonics

Volker Deckert, Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology, Jena, Germany
For on-going contributions to high resolution Raman spectroscopy, in particular the realization of tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

Jennifer Dionne, Stanford University, USA
For outstanding contributions to nanophotonics, including methods to image, sense, and direct chemical and biological processes with high spatial resolution

Arthur Dogariu, Princeton University, USA
For discovering and developing novel nonlinear spectroscopic techniques for remote sensing with applications from medicine to national security

Kevin Eliceiri, University of Wisconsin at Madison, USA
For outstanding research in cellular microenvironment imaging and bio-image informatics

Amy Eskilson, Inrad Optics, USA
For outstanding contributions to the photonics industry, as well as a long history of advocacy for the community and support for students

Nicholas Xuanlai Fang, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
For fundamental and practical innovations in plasmonic, acoustic, graphene-based and topological metamaterials

Andrei Faraon, California Institute of Technology, USA
For research and application of nano-photonic quantum spin systems and meta-materials to integrated quantum technology and compact photonic devices

Sina Farsiu, Duke University, USA
For outstanding contributions to optical image processing and biophotonics

Ian Ferguson, Kennesaw State University, USA
For the development of semiconductor materials and devices for photonic and opto-electronic applications in the IR, visible, and UV

Donis Flagello, Nikon Research Corporation of America, USA
For outstanding achievements and leadership in furthering the understanding and improvement of image formation in optical lithography

Dr. Tara Michele Fortier, National Institute of Standards & Technology, USA
For pioneering laser frequency combs and their application in optical clocks, fundamental physics and the synthesis of ultra-low-noise microwaves

Francisco J. Garcia-Vidal, Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Spain
For fundamental contributions to nanophotonics and plasmonics

Gregory J. Gbur, Univ of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA
For contributions to coherence theory, singular optics, and the intersection of these disciplines

Des Gibson, University of the West of Scotland, UK
For contributions advancing the technology and industry of optical coatings, sensors and medical devices

Madeleine Glick, Columbia University, USA
For seminal contributions to optical switching for data centers and digital electronic processing in optical networks

Claire Gmachl, Princeton University, USA
For pioneering work in infrared materials, optics, lasers and sensing systems

Manuel Guizar-Sicairos, Paul Scherrer Institut, Swiss Light Source, Switzerland
For seminal contributions to methods and applications of coherent lensless imaging, ptychography, x-ray nanotomography, and new modalities of x-ray microscopy

Martina Havenith-Newen, Ruhr Universitaet Bochum, Germany
For exploring THz spectroscopy as a sensitive tool to map solvation and highlighting the role of water in biological processes

Christine Hendon, Columbia University, USA
For significant contributions in optical imaging in cardiology

Yi-Pai Huang, National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan
For achievements in LC-lens applications in 3D & AR/VR, and Field Sequential display technology developments

Robert Huber, Universität zu Lübeck, Germany
For outstanding contributions to the development of tunable lasers and imaging techniques, especially Fourier domain mode locking

Yasushi Inouye, Osaka University, Japan
For pioneering contributions to nano-photonics and near-field optics, particularly the invention of apertureless near-field optical microscopy and tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

Satoshi Iwamoto, University of Tokyo, Japan
For original and pioneering contributions to photonic crystals and topological photonics

Jack Jewell, GreenVCSEL, USA
For pioneering contributions to vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser technology and commercialization

Baohua Jia, Swinburne University of Technology, Australia
For outstanding and sustained contributions to the research and development of ultrafast laser fabrication and two-dimensional photonics

Qian Kemao, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
For significant contribution to optical metrology especially on fringe pattern analysis

Mercedeh Khajavikhan, University of Southern California, USA
For seminal contributions in the fields of non-Hermitian and topological photonics by conceiving and developing new types of optoelectronic technologies

Alexander Khanikaev, The City College of New York and The Graduate Center of CUNY, NY, USA
For pioneering contributions to topological photonics and novel photonic materials

Olga Korotkova, University of Miami, USA
For outstanding and sustained contributions to the field of propagation of coherence, intensity, and polarization of light beams in the air/water

Christian Kränkel, Leibniz-Institut für Kristallzüchtung, Germany
For significant advancements in the development of new, tailored rare-earth ion-doped gain crystals for visible, near-, and mid-infrared lasers

Arseniy Kuznetsov, IMRE, A*STAR, Singapore
For pioneering contributions to the field of dielectric nanoantennas and development of their applications

Chiman Kwan, Signal Processing, Inc., USA
For significant and sustained contributions to image processing algorithms with applications to remote sensing and especially Mars Curiosity Rover’s imagers

Laurent Larger, University Bourgogne-Franche-Comte, France
For pioneering studies of nonlinear dynamics in optoelectronics, and the development of novel architectures for photonic artificial intelligence

Ofer Levi, University of Toronto, Canada
For innovative contributions to miniature optical biosensors, imaging systems, and nonlinear optical devices

Yi-Hsin Lin, National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan
For pioneering contributions to electrically tunable liquid crystal lenses that led to wide-ranging applications

Jifeng Liu, Dartmouth College, USA
For contributions to germanium-based active photonic devices monolithically integrated on silicon

John R. Marciante, University of Rochester, USA
For pioneering innovations and sustained contributions to the research and development of large-mode-area fibers, fiber lasers, semiconductor lasers, and photonic devices

Lluis F. Marsal, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Spain
For achievements in photonic and optical nanostructured materials to enhance light-matter interactions in optoelectronic devices and sensing applications

Dr. Nicholas Massa, Springfield Technical Community College, USA
For outstanding contributions to the education of photonics technicians through the development of innovative curricula and professional development for educators

Maria S. Millan, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech (UPC), Spain
For contributions to information optics, image processing, security, industrial inspection and ophthalmology, as well as service to the optics community, particularly in Latin America

Benjamin Miller, University of Rochester, USA
For pioneering science, engineering, and entrepreneurship in the design and manufacturing of integrated photonic biosensors

Vladimir Mitin, University at Buffalo, SUNY, USA
For outstanding and sustained contributions to the conceptually new and efficient optoelectronic devices, particularly controllable/adaptable terahertz and infrared detectors

Christopher Monroe, University of Maryland at College Park and Duke University, USA
For pioneering leadership in quantum information processing with trapped ions and ultrafast optics technology, and leadership in the National Quantum Initiative

Theodore D Moustakas, Boston University, USA
For seminal, sustained contributions to optical materials and devices, particularly in nitride semiconductors

Síle Nic Chormaic, Okinawa Inst of Science & Technology Graduate University, Japan
For contributions to fundamental understanding and applications of optical nanofibers, nanofiber-mediated interactions with cold atoms, whispering gallery resonator cavities, and microparticle trapping

Tatiana Novikova, LPICM, Ecole Polytechnique, IP Paris, France
For pioneering contributions to the study of polarized light and its applications in Mueller polarimetry for metrology in microelectronics and biomedicine

Yoshitomo Okawachi, Columbia University, USA
For pioneering contributions to slow light based on stimulated scattering and chip-based optical frequency combs

Yukitoshi Otani, Utsunomiya University, Japan
For outstanding contributions to the development of optical metrology and imaging polarimetry

Oskar Painter, California Institute of Technology, USA
For pioneering contributions to integrated quantum-optical and opto-mechanical devices and application to quantum information systems

Vittorio M. N. Passaro, Politecnico di Bari, Italy
For pioneering contributions in photonic micro-sensor development

Professor Amitava Patra, Institute of Nano Science and Technology and Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, India
For significant, sustained contributions to photonics and new photonic materials

Matthew Pelton, University of Maryland Baltimore County, USA
For outstanding contributions to fundamental optical physics and nano-photonic applications of metal nanoparticles, semiconductor nanocrystals, and their assemblies

Sergey V. Polyakov, National Inst of Standards & Technology, USA
For contributions using quantum properties of light for optical metrology, communication, and biosensing beyond classical limits

Chrysanthe Preza, D.Sc., The University of Memphis, USA
For outstanding and sustained research contributions in the field of computational imaging applied to microscopy

Sujatha Ramanujan, NextCorps, USA
For outstanding leadership in the formation of optics and photonics industry clusters

Roberta Ramponi, IFN-CNR and Politecnico di Milano, Italy
For leadership in the promotion of optics and light-based technologies, and outstanding contributions to photonics innovation in Europe

Graham T Reed, Optoelectronics Research Centre, University of Southampton, UK
For foundational contributions in the field of silicon photonics, and leadership in innovating and driving the field

Herve Rigneault, Fresnel Institut, France
For pioneering and sustained contributions to nonlinear optics and nonlinear optical microscopy, single molecule optical techniques, and cavity quantum electro dynamics

Haisheng Rong, Intel Corporation, USA
For pioneering and sustained contributions to the research and development of silicon photonics technology

Albert Schliesser, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
For pioneering contributions to the fields of quantum optomechanics and optical frequency combs

Jens H. Schmid, National Research Council Canada, Canada
For seminal research in subwavelength integrated optics and pioneering contributions to silicon photonics and its applications in sensing and spectroscopy

Zouheir Sekkat, MAScIR / UM5-FSR, Morocco
For pioneering contributions interfacing photochemistry and nonlinear optics, inventing sub-Tg light-induced molecular motion in polymers, as well as promoting optics and photonics in Africa

Ilya Shadrivov, Australian National University, Australia
For pioneering contributions to the field of electromagnetic metamaterials including nonlinear phenomena and light localization in composite structures

Natan T. Shaked, Tel-Aviv University, Israel
For significant contributions in biomedical holography, developing clinical portable holographic modules, and for novel holographic multiplexing and machine-learning approaches

Gangxiang Shen, Soochow University, China
For contributions to green optical network design,  and fiber and wireless integration architecture

Mário G. Silveirinha, Instituto Superior Técnico – University of Lisbon, Portugal
For pioneering contributions to the theory of metamaterials and plasmonics

Yakov Soskind, Apple Inc., USA
For outstanding and sustained technical contributions to the science, technology, and applications of diffractive optics

Giuseppe Strangi, Case Western Reserve University, USA
For contributions to the advancement of optical biosensors based on plasmon polaritons and for promoting connections between nanophotonics and life sciences

Yikai Su, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
For significant contributions to integrated photonic devices and their applications in optical signal processing

Thomas Suleski, Univ of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA
For technical achievements in diffractive optics, micro-optics, and freeform optics, and service to the optics community

Zhipei Sun, Aalto University, Finland
For pioneering contributions to photonic and optoelectronic applications with low-dimensional materials

Enrique Tajahuerce, Universitat Jaume I, Spain
For achievements on optical security and computational imaging using digital holography and single-pixel imaging techniques

Toshiki Tajima, University of California Irvine, USA
For seminal contributions in broad and novel plasma physics and laser-based accelerator physics, introducing the concept of Laser Wakefield Acceleration

Dawn Tan, Singapore University of Technology and Design, Singapore
For pioneering and significant contributions to CMOS-compatible nonlinear optics and integrated photonics, as well as sustained outreach to advance diversity and inclusion in optics

Hong Tang, Yale University, USA
For outstanding contributions to chipscale cavity optomechanics, and pioneering work on integrated nonlinear and quantum photonics based on chi(2) materials

Jacob Taylor, National Inst of Standards & Technology, USA
For contributions using quantum properties of light and matter for applications ranging from extremely sensitive sensors to quantum information processing

Simon Thibault, Université Laval, Canada
For contributions in the multidisciplinary fields of optics, imaging, and lens design as well as actively serving the optics community

Yuichi Tohmori, Tsurugi-Photonics Foundation, Japan
For outstanding contributions to pioneering research and developments of tunable semiconductor lasers for Dense WDM optical communications

John Travers, Heriot-Watt University, UK
For pioneering research on nonlinear fibre optics, including supercontinuum generation and extreme pulse compression in both solid and hollow-core fibers

Nicolas Treps, Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, Sorbonne Université, France
For outstanding contributions to quantum optics, quantum metrology and quantum technologies, and for successful technology transfer to photonics industry

Dries Van Thourhout, Ghent University - IMEC, Belgium
For outstanding and sustained contributions to research on silicon photonics, particularly the integration of novel active materials through wafer bonding or epitaxy

Prabhat Verma, Osaka University, Japan
For outstanding and pioneering research and development on near-field optics, tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy and optical nanoimaging

Ramon Vilaseca, Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya. Barcelona, Spain
For pioneering research in nonlinear optics, nonlinear laser dynamics, and ultra-fast laser pulse propagation in photonic crystals

Joel Villatoro, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Spain
For seminal contributions to the research and development of interferometric optical fiber sensors and their applications

Brian Vohnsen, University College Dublin, Ireland
For significant contributions to vision science, including photoreceptor optics and high resolution retinal imaging

Jian Wang, Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China
For pioneering contributions to twisted light communications employing orbital angular momentum multiplexing and impact on photonic integrated devices for structuring light

Zhiming Wang, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, China
For significant contributions to the development of advanced optical materials and their applications in optoelectronic and photonic technologies

Christian Wetzel, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, USA
For pioneering contributions to the development of group-III nitride semiconductor materials and the physics for green light emitters in characterization and epitaxy

Qihua Xiong, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
For outstanding contributions to semiconductor nanomaterials for optical spectroscopy, photonics and optoelectronics

Xiaodong Xu, University of Washington, USA
For seminal contributions to 2D semiconductor and heterostructure optics, and magneto-optical effects in 2D magnets

Makoto Yamada, Osaka Prefecture University, Japan
For significant contributions to optical fiber amplifiers particularly wideband WDM amplification, and pioneering contributions to distributed feedback structure analysis

Susanne Yelin, Harvard University, USA
For pioneering work in theoretical quantum optics with atoms, molecules, and condensed matter, with many-body, nonlinear, and cooperative systems

Yasha Yi, University of Michigan, USA
For significant contributions in integrated photonics and optoelectronics

Xiaobo Yin, University of Colorado at Boulder, USA
For outstanding achievements in micro-/nano-photonics and innovative research in photonics manufacturing for scalable applications

Richard N. Youngworth, Riyo LLC, USA
For outstanding and sustained contributions to optical engineering, particularly to optics standards development for ANSI and ISO

Hans Zappe, University of Freiburg, Germany
For fundamental contributions to the development and application of tunable, liquid and soft-matter micro-optics

Anton Zeilinger, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Austria
For decades of pioneering quantum optics and quantum information contributions, critically advancing understanding of the foundations and applications of quantum physics

Haibo Zeng, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, China
For significant contributions to quantum dot optics and optoelectronics

Hao F. Zhang, Northwestern University, USA
For pioneering contributions to new optical coherence tomography and single-molecule imaging technologies and their applications to biomedicine

Qiang Zhang, Univ of Science and Technology of China, China
For pioneering contributions to quantum communication and quantum optics including testing quantum foundations and device-independent quantum randomness

Weidong Zhou, University of Texas at Arlington, USA
For significant contributions to photonic crystal membrane lasers and hybrid nanomembrane optoelectronics

Weimin Zhou, U.S. Army Research Laboratory, USA
For contributions to RF-photonics that have revolutionized the generation, transmission, control, and detection of microwave signals using optical approaches

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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