Walter P Siegmund was born in Bremen, Germany in 1925 and came to the United States in September 1930 with his mother and brother. The family resided in Rochester, New York. He obtained a scholarship to the University of Rochester where he pursued his studies in the sciences until joining the Navy in 1944. Walter returned to the University of Rochester after the war and received his Ph.D. in optics and physics in 1952. The following year, he joined the American Optical Company as a research assistant to Brian O’Brien. He remained at the company until his retirement in 1993, working his way to become Director of Research and Development. In his retirement, he founded his own small business, TaperVision.

Siegmund received OSA’s David Richardson Medal in 1977 “for significant contributions to optical engineering.”

He passed away in 2012.