2011 OSA President Chris Dainty received an MSc. in applied optics and a Ph.D. in physics from Imperial College, London in 1969 and 1972, respectively. After serving as a lecturer in physics at Queen Elizabeth College, University of London from 1974 to 1978, Dainty was appointed associate professor of optics at The Institute of Optics, The University of Rochester. He remained at Rochester for five years until 1984 when he was named Pilkington Professor of Applied Optics, Imperial College London. On leave from Imperial College, Dainty now holds the chair of applied physics at the National University of Ireland, Galway.

During his career, Dainty has investigated problems in optical imaging, scattering and propagation. In these areas, he has co-authored or edited six books, approximately 140 peer-reviewed papers and 220 conference presentations.

Dainty has rendered service to the optics community through numerous professional organizations. He has been secretary-general and president of the International Commission for Optics, as well as the president of the European Optical Society. He currently is a member of the board of the European Technology Platform “Photonics 21” and is also on the external/scientific advisory boards of The Center for Adaptive Optics (Santa Cruz) and The Institute of Photonic Sciences (Barcelona).

Dainty’s widespread participation in OSA activities has involved topical meetings, awards and serving as a two-time member of the Board of Directors. Currently serving on the Frederic Ives Medal Committee, Dainty has been regularly engaged in OSA awards and honors, having served on the overall society Awards Committee, the Leadership Award/New Focus Prize Committee and the Fellows and Honorary Members Committee. In addition, Dainty has provided technical expertise to the organization’s initiatives as a member of the Computational Optical Sensing and Imaging Program Committee, Adaptive Optics: Analysis and Methods Program Committee, and the Signal Recovery and Synthesis Program Committee.

Dainty is a recipient of the International Commission for Optics Prize, IoP’s Thomas Young Medal and Prize, OSA’s C.E.K. Mees Medal and IoP’s Optics and Photonics Division Prize. He is a fellow of OSA, SPIE, The Institute of Physics, and the European Optical Society and a member of the Royal Irish Academy.

Dainty served as Chair of OSA’s Centennial Advisory Panel, for which he received the Robert E. Hopkins Leadership Award for establishing the vision and effective organization of a long-planned a highly successful global celebration of the OSA centennial anniversary, with a focus on OSA’s next 100 years of innovation.

In addition to serving as Deputy Editor for Optics Express through 2020, Dainty is an active member of OSA's Presidential Advisory Committee.