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08 October 2013
OSA Names Distinguished Service Award in Honor of Stephen D. Fantone
Contact:
Lyndsay Meyer
The Optical Society
+1.202.416.1435
lmeyer@osa.org
OSA Names Distinguished Service Award in Honor of Stephen D. Fantone
ORLANDO, Fla., Oct. 8, 2013—The Optical Society (OSA) Board of Directors voted today to rename the OSA Distinguished Service Award to the Stephen D. Fantone Distinguished Service Award. Fantone has been an OSA member for 40 years and has served in a number of volunteer capacities, most notably as the Treasurer of the society and member of the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee from 1996-2013.The Distinguished Service Award was established in 1973 by the OSA Board of Directors. It is presented biannually to individuals who, over an extended period of time, have served The Optical Society in an outstanding way, especially through volunteer participation in its management, operation or planning.
“OSA has been tremendously fortunate to benefit from Steve’s 18 years of advice, support, focus and involvement as OSA’s Treasurer. He is a dedicated, active and effective member of the optics and photonics community. His expectations for high quality, best in class performance are reflected through OSA’s staff and its products and services. Renaming the award in his honor preserves his legacy in this role,” said Elizabeth Rogan, CEO of OSA. “Steve’s enormous impact on OSA and the OSA Foundation ensures that there are the resources in place to invest in the community for years to come.”
Fantone is the founder and President of Optikos Corp., headquartered in Wakefield, Massachusetts. He is also a senior lecturer in the mechanical engineering department at the Massachusetts Institute for Technology. He currently serves on the boards of Zygo Corporation, Rofin-Sinar Technologies, Inc., the Pioneer Institute for Public Policy Research and the Hertz Foundation. Fantone was elected an OSA Fellow in 1985 and was awarded the Distinguished Service Award in 2007. In addition to his role as treasurer at OSA, he has chaired the finance committee, the audit committee, the investment subcommittee, plus several ad hoc committees. He has also served as Treasurer of the OSA Foundation since 2002 and is a member of the Optics Trust. He has served in many key roles across OSA, including the former engineering council, nominating committee, Applied Optics committee and international optical design conference program committees.
