About
In Memoriam: Ionel-Valentin Vlad,
Dec 24, 2017
Valentin Vlad, OSA Fellow and President of the Romanian Academy, passed away on 24 December 2017 at the age of 74. Vlad was known for his research in the areas of nonlinear optics, nanophotonics, optical information processing, and holography and imaging. He was a pioneer within the Romanian scientific community and his accomplishments include creation and study of real-time holograms, recorded in saturable absorbents (1969) and the first professional holograms in Romania (1970).
Vlad graduated from the Polytechnic Institute in Bucharest, Romania, in 1972, and during his career, he served as a researcher, university professor, and significant figure within the Romanian Academy. Founded in 1866, the Romanian Academy oversees scientific, artistic, and literary studies. Vlad was a member of the Academy from 1991-2009, Vice President from 2010-2014, and became President in 2014, a position he held until his passing. Vlad was also the Head of the “Nonlinear and Information Photonics” group in the Laser Department of the National Institute for Laser, Plasma and Radiation Physics, as well as a Professor at the University of Bucharest, Faculty of Physics.
He was elected Fellow of the Optical Society (1978), Fellow of the Institute of Physics, London (1999), senior associate member of the International Center for Theoretical Physics (Trieste, 2003), member of the European Academy (Berlin-Potsdam, 2005), and Fellow of the International Society for Optical Engineering (USA, 2007). Vlad held three patents, authored numerous conference proceedings, and served on editorial committees for Journal of the Optical Society, Optics Letters, and Journal of Optics: A.
He was recognized by many national and international societies during his career, having received the Traian Vuia" Prize of the Romanian Academy (1978), and the "Galileo Galilei" Award (2005) from the International Commission on Optics. Most recently, Vlad was integral to the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Romanian Academy (2016), and he initiated, coordinated and finalized Romania's Development Strategy for the next 20 years.
Ionel-Valentin Vlad will be dearly missed by his colleagues and collaborators. OSA and the scientific community mourns the loss of Valentin Vlad.
