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A History and the Past Presidents of the OSA Rochester Section

Content taken from Common Origins of The Institute of Optics and the Optical Society of America by Susan Houde-Walter, A Jewel in the Crown, 2004

The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries saw an explosion in the Applied Optics industry. Companies such as Carl Zeiss, Bausch and Lomb and Eastman Kodak realized the great need and potential for optics as cameras, spectacles and medical instruments advanced in technology. With the start of World War I in 1914, the young optics companies in the U.S. were cut off from the German glass supply. The need for more knowledge in optical theory and more advanced instrument-making skills became imminent in the U.S.

On November 18, 1915, a few gentlemen met at the University of Rochester to form an optical society. It was named the Rochester Association for Advancement of Applied Optics. Within three weeks the society had written and adopted a constitution and by-laws and the first council was elected. The first regular meeting was held on Tuesday, January 4, 1916, and then on the first Tuesday of every month thereafter. This schedule is still followed today.


One month later, in February 1916, it was decided to plan a national optics society with the name Optical Society of America. The Journal of the Optical Society of America was the first order of business and on December 28, 1916, the first regular meeting of the OSA was held. At the same time, plans for founding an "Institute of Optics" were underway at the University of Rochester. It was suggested that the Institute of Optics should be intimately involved with the publication of the JOSA and the two have been closely linked ever since.

As the national optics society moved out of Rochester in 1916, a local chapter was created with heavy involvement from the local optics industry. It may be said that "you can take OSA out of Rochester, but you cannot take Rochester out of OSA."


OSA-RS Past Presidents

Year Name
Year Name
Year Name
Year Name
1915  Perley G. Nutting
Eastman Kodak

 1943Fred W. Paul
Univ. of Rochester

1971 Claude B. Smoyer
Xerox Corporation

1999
Don Golini
QED Technologies
1916 Herman Kellner
Bausch & Lomb

1944
F.W. Jobe
Bausch & Lomb

1972
Martin Dvorin
Monroe Comm. College

2000

Dave E. Smith

Melles Griot

1917 Elmer J. Bissell
1945 Charles D. Reid
Eastman Kodak

1973
Robert L. Lamberts
Eastman Kodak

2001
Paul Dewa
Corning Tropel
1918 Frederick E. Wright
1946 Robert E. Hopkins
Univ. of Rochester

1974
Paul G. Roetling
Xerox Corporation

2002
Robert Hutchison
In T'Hutch Ltd.
1919 none
1947 Arthur F. Turner
Bausch & Lomb

1975Douglas C. Sinclair
University of Rochester

2003
Bill Castle
Eastman Kodak
1920 Loyd A. Jones
Eastman Kodak

1948 John H. McLeod
Eastman Kodak

1976 Edward M. Granger
Eastman Kodak

2004

David Berg

Melles Griot

1921 F. Fairbanks
University of Rochester

1949 Ernest H. Greppin
Wilmot Castle Co

1977Vance J. Carpenter
Xerox Corporation

2005

Paul Dumas

QED Technologies

1922 C.E.K. Mees
Eastman Kodak

1950 James R. Benford
Bausch & Lomb

1978

Robert J. Klimasewski

Burleigh Instruments


2006

Jim Zavislan

Univ. of Rochester

1923 Henry F. Kurtz
Bausch & Lomb

1950 Harold R. Condit
Eastman Kodak

1979

John F. Carson

Rochester Inst. of Tech.


2007

Andrew Kulawiec

Semrock

1924 Rex B. Wilsey
Eastman Kodak

1952 M. Parker Givens
Univ. of Rochester

1980Erwin Loewen
Bausch & Lomb

2008 Thomas G. Brown
Univ. of Rochester
1925 John W. Forrest
Bausch & Lomb

1953 David Richardson
Bausch & Lomb

1981

James C. Owen

Eastman Kodak


2009 Jennifer Kruschwitz
JK Consulting
1926 F.M. Bishop
Eastman Kodak

1954 Walter R.J. Brown
Eastman Kodak

1982

Keith T. Knox

Xerox Corporation


2010 Rick Plympton
Optimax Systems, Inc.
1927 Scott Sterling
Bausch & Lomb

1955 David Gilkeson
Wollensak

1983 Jay Eastman
Optel Systems

2011

Julie Bentley

Univ. of Rochester

1928 Fred E. Altman
Eastman Kodak

1956 Oran Miller
Eastman Kodak

1984David MacAdam
Univ. of Rochester

2012

Chris Palmer
Richardson Gratings

1929 T.R. Wilkins
Univ. of Rochester

1957 David L. Fridge
Bausch & Lomb

1985 Dan Haas
Eastman Kodak

2013

Damon Diehl

Monroe Comm. College

1930 L.V. Foster
Bausch & Lomb

1958 David Harper
Xerox

1986

William Gornall

Burleigh Instruments


2014

Wade Cook

ASE Optics

1931 E.L. Schoen
Eastman Kodak

1959 Robert M. Boynton
University of Rochester

1987 M. John Buzawa
Optics Technology, Inc.

2015 Jessica Nelson
Optimax, Inc.
1932 Rudolph Kingslake
Univ. of Rochester

1960 Hilda G. Kingslake
1988

Medhi N. Araghi

Holoteck Ltd.


2016 Jason E. Rama
Richardson Gratings
1933 Carl E. Bahn
Bausch & Lomb

1961 Donald P. Feder
Eastman Kodak

1989 David B. Kay
Eastman Kodak

2017 Daniel Staloff, Corning
1934 Cyril J. Staud
Eastman Kodak

1962John L. Tupper
Eastman Kodak

1990 G. Michael Morris
Univ. of Rochester

2018

Ben Zwickl

RIT

1935 C.C. Nitchie
Bausch & Lomb

1963 Joseph L. Rood
Bausch & Lomb

1991 John Bruning
GCA/Tropel Division

2019

David Compertore

Lumetrics

1936 L.A. DuBridge
Univ. of Rochester

1964 Robert M. Blakney
Univ. of Rochester

1992Howard Smith
Center for Optics Manufacturing

2020

KC Kamenecka

JML

1937 B. Noyes
Taylor Instrument Co

1965 John D. Hayes
Xerox Corporation

1993 Tom Bristow
Chapman Instruments

2021

Filipp Ignatovich

Clerio

1938 A.A. Cook
Bausch & Lomb

1966 Joseph H. Altman
Eastman Kodak

1994 Alan Wertheimer
Eastman Kodak

1939 R.E. Burroughs
Eastman Kodak

1967 Robert J. Potter
Xerox Corporation

1995

Peter Emmel

Rochester Photonics Corp.


19401940 Brian O'Brien
Univ. of Rochester
1968Robert J. Meltzer
Bausch & Lomb

 1996

Dean Faklis

PSC, Inc.

 


 1941R. Bruce Horsfall
Bausch & Lomb
  1969George C. Higgins
Eastman Kodak
  1997Gene Kohlenberg
Eastman Kodak
   
 1942Julian H. Webb
Eastman Kodak
  1970Brian J. Thompson
Xerox Corporation
  1998

Paul McLaughlin

Eastman Kodak

   
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