About
09 January 2020
The Optical Society Announces New Editors-in-Chief for Three of its High-Quality Journals
WASHINGTON —The Optical Society (OSA) is pleased to announce that Miguel Alonso, Prem Kumar and Guifang Li have been appointed as the new editors-in-chief of Optics Letters, Optica, and Advances in Optics and Photonics, respectively. Each of the editors-in-chief began their tenure on 1 January 2020.
- Miguel Alonso, Optics Letters OSA Publishing is pleased to welcome Miguel Alonso as the new editor-in-chief of Optics Letters. Alonso joined the faculty of the University of Rochester’s Institute of Optics in 2003 and, since 2018, he is also with Institut Fresnel, Ecole Central Marseille and Aix-Marseille Université in France. His research is on mathematical aspects of wave propagation, in particular the description and applications of beams with structured intensity and polarization distributions, optical coherence and the connection between the ray and wave models of light. Alonso is an OSA Fellow and has been active on program committees for several OSA conferences. In addition, he has been very involved with OSA’s publishing program for almost two decades. For 12 years, he was a member of the Optics Express Editorial Board as an associate and deputy editor. He then served as an associate editor for Optica for six years. Alonso also founded and chaired OSA Publishing’s Spotlight on Optics Panel for over seven years. Alonso takes over the editor-in-chief position from Xi-Cheng Zhang, who led the journal from 2014 through 2019. When asked about his new role, Alonso stated: “I believe that the strength of Optics Letters stems from its reputation as a prestigious publication, for and by active researchers, where the quality and significance of the research are the main criteria. It is an immense honor and a great responsibility for me to become the eighth editor-in-chief of Optics Letters.”
- Prem Kumar, Optica OSA Publishing welcomes Prem Kumar as the new editor-in-chief of Optica. Kumar is professor of information technology in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and director of the Center for Photonic Communication and Computing in the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science at Northwestern University, U.S.A. He also holds an appointment as professor of physics and astronomy in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern University. His research focuses on nonlinear and quantum optical devices for applications, including photonic entanglement in quantum information networks; novel quantum light states for precision measurements, imaging, and sensing; and networked classical optical communications. Kumar is an OSA Fellow who has been active on various OSA conference program committees. He led a student chapter, served on OSA’s Publications Council, and was a member of a committee to review Optics Express. Kumar was a topical editor for Optics Letters for ten years and guest edited the Journal of the Optical Society of America B centennial article collection in 2016. He takes over the editor-in-chief position from Alexander L. Gaeta, who led the journal from its inception in 2014 through 2019. Remarking on his appointment, Kumar stated: “It will be an honor to continue and build upon the job so successfully started by Prof. Gaeta. Light plays a central role in many scientific and technological frontiers, and if Optica can continue to capture the important results in emerging fields in optics and photonics, I believe it has the potential to become even more impactful.”
- Guifang Li, Advances in Optics and Photonics OSA Publishing is pleased to welcome Guifang Li as the new editor-in-chief of Advances in Optics and Photonics (AOP). Li is a professor of optics, electrical & computer engineering and physics at the University of Central Florida’s Center for Research and Education in Optics and Lasers (CREOL), U.S.A. His research interests include optical communication and networking, RF photonics and all-optical signal processing. An OSA Fellow, Li served as an associate editor for Optica for six years and was an associate and deputy editor for Optics Express for nine years. He has also served on several OSA conference program committees. Li takes over the editor-in-chief position from Govind Agrawal, who led AOP from 2014 through 2019. In response to his appointment, Li stated: “AOP has a special place within the optics and photonics community. I am fortunate to stand on the shoulders of the editors, authors and reviewers who have made AOP such a success, and I look forward to working with them to take AOP to new heights.”
Commenting on these appointments, Elizabeth Nolan, deputy executive director and chief publishing officer, The Optical Society stated: “We are very grateful to our outgoing editors—Profs. Zhang, Gaeta and Agrawal—for their strong leadership and commitment over the last 6 years. While we will certainly miss them, we are excited to welcome our new editors and look forward to working with Profs. Alonso, Kumar, and Li. I am confident that their wealth of professional experience in optics and photonics and their knowledge of scientific publishing will ensure the continued success of Optics Letters, Optica and Advances in Optics and Photonics.”
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.
Media Contact
