Optica (society)
American scientific society for optics and photonics
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Optica, founded as the Optical Society of America (later the Optical Society), is a professional society of individuals and companies with an interest in optics and photonics. It publishes journals, organizes conferences and exhibitions, and carries out charitable activities.
| |
 Optica's headquarters in Washington, D.C. | |
| Founded | 1916 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Perley G. Nutting |
| Type | 501(c)3 organization |
| 53-0259696 | |
| Focus | Optics and photonics |
| Location |
|
Area served | Worldwide |
| Method | Professional journals and conferences |
| Members | 22,000 |
Key people | James Kafka (2025 president) Gerd Leuchs (2024 president) Michal Lipson (2023 president) |
| Revenue | $49,549,907[1][2] |
| Endowment | $74,991,615 |
| Employees | 150 |
| Website | www |
History
Optica was founded in 1916 as the Optical Society of America, under the leadership of Perley G. Nutting,[3] with 30 optical scientists and instrument makers based in Rochester, New York. It soon published its first journal of research results and established an annual meeting.[4][5] The group's Journal of the Optical Society of America was created in 1918.[5] The first series of joint meetings with the American Physical Society took place in 1918.[5]
In 2008, it changed its name to the Optical Society.[6] In September 2021, the organization's name changed to Optica, in reference to the organization's journal by the same name and geographic neutrality to reflect the society's global membership.[7]
In 2024, following an employee whistleblower complaint, Bloomberg News reported that the Optica Foundation Challenge was funded entirely by Huawei.[8][9][10] In response, the United States House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology launched a probe and Optica announced that it would no longer accept money from Huawei, remove the company's representation on a panel of judges, return donations made by Huawei from 2022 onward, and remove Elizabeth A. Rogan as CEO.[11][12][13][14]
Scientific publishing
Optica Publishing Group
Optica Publishing Group is Optica's scientific publishing platform, which publishes peer-reviewed optics and photonics research. Optica Publishing Group's portfolio consists of 20 publications.[15]
Primary journals
- Advances in Optics and Photonics, ISSN 1943-8206; 2009–present — Publishing long review articles and tutorials.
- Applied Optics, ISSN 1559-128X (print); ISSN 2155-3165 (online); 1962–present — Covering optical applications-centered research.
- Biomedical Optics Express, ISSN 2156-7085; 2010–present — An open access journal covering optics, photonics and imaging in the life sciences.
- Journal of the Optical Society of America, 1917–1983,[16] which was split into two journals in 1984:
- Journal of the Optical Society of America A, ISSN 1084-7529 (print); ISSN 1520-8532 (online); 1984–present — Covering research on optics, image science, and vision.
- Journal of the Optical Society of America B, ISSN 0740-3224 (print); ISSN 1520-8540 (online); 1984–present — Covering research on optical physics
- Optica, ISSN 2334-2536; 2014–present — Rapid dissemination of high-impact results in all areas of optics and photonics.[17]
- Optica Quantum, ISSN 2837-6714; 2023–present — An open access journal of high-impact results in quantum information science and technology enabled by optics.
- Optical Materials Express, ISSN 2159-3930; 2011–present — An open access journal covering advances in novel optical materials, their properties, modeling, synthesis and fabrication techniques.
- Optics Express, ISSN 1094-4087; 1997–present — An open access journal covering all areas of optics.
- Optics Letters, ISSN 0146-9592 (print); ISSN 1539-4794 (online); 1977–present — Providing rapid publication of short papers in all fields of optical science and technology.
- Optics Continuum, ISSN 2770-0208; 2022–present — An open access journal that publishes research articles meeting the standards for technical accuracy, scientific rigor, and presentation quality without judgment of impact or significance.
Partnered journals
- Applied Spectroscopy, 1951–present. Published by the Society for Applied Spectroscopy.
- Chinese Optics Letters, 2003–present. Published by Chinese Laser Press.
- Current Optics and Photonics, 2017–present. Published by Optical Society of Korea.
- Journal of Optical Communications and Networking, 2009–present. Jointly published by Optica and IEEE. Published from 2002 to 2009 as Journal of Optical Networking.
- Journal of Lightwave Technology, 1998–present. Jointly published by Optica and IEEE.
- Journal of Near Infrared Spectroscopy, 1993–present. Published by SAGE Publishing.
- Journal of Optical Technology, 1999–present. English translation of Opticheskii Zhurnal published by the S. I. Vavilov State Optical Institute.
- Photonics Research, 2013–present. Jointly published by Optica and Chinese Laser Press.
Magazine
- Optics and Photonics News, ISSN 1047-6938; 1975–present. Publishes monthly news for recent developments in optics on topics related to science and society, education, technology, and business.
Legacy journals
- Journal of Display Technology, 2005–2016. Jointly published by OSA and IEEE. Available online.
- Journal of Optical Networking, 2002–2009. Published by OSA. Available online.
- Journal of Optical Society of Korea, 2007–2016. Published by the Optical Society of Korea. Available online.
- OSA Continuum, 2018–2021. Published by Optica. Available online.
- Optics News, 1975–1989. Published by Optica. Available online.
Recognitions
Optica presents awards and honors, including Optica Fellow, Honorary Membership, and Awards/Medals. Optica's awards and medals program is endowed through the Optica Foundation, and includes more than 20 named awards; among them are the following:[18]
- Adolph Lomb Medal
- C.E.K. Mees Medal
- Charles Hard Townes Award
- David Richardson Medal
- Edgar D. Tillyer Award
- Edwin H. Land Medal
- Ellis R. Lippincott Award
- Emmett N. Leith Medal
- Esther Hoffman Beller Medal
- Frederic Ives Medal/Jarus W. Quinn Prize
- Herbert Walther Award
- John Tyndall Award
- Joseph Fraunhofer Award/Robert M. Burley Prize
- Kevin P. Thompson Optical Design Innovator Award
- Leonard Mandel Quantum Optics Award
- Max Born Award
- Michael Stephen Feld Biophotonics Award
- Nick Holonyak, Jr. Award
- Paul F. Forman Team Engineering Excellence Award
- R. W. Wood Prize
- Robert E. Hopkins Leadership Award
- Sang Soo Lee Award
- Stephen D. Fantone Distinguished Service Award
- The Joseph W. Goodman Book Writing Award
- William F. Meggers Award in Spectroscopy
Presidents
The following persons are or have been presidents of the society:[19]
- 1916–1917: Perley G. Nutting
- 1918–1919: Frederick Eugene Wright
- 1920: Floyd K. Richtmyer
- 1921: James P. C. Southall
- 1922–1923: Leonard T. Troland
- 1924–1925: Herbert E. Ives
- 1926–1927: William E. Forsythe
- 1928–1929: Irwin G. Priest
- 1930–1931: Loyd A. Jones
- 1932: Eugene C. Crittenden
- 1933–1934: Wilbur B. Rayton
- 1935–1936: Arthur C. Hardy
- 1937–1938: Roswell Clifton Gibbs
- 1939–1940: Kasson S. Gibson
- 1941–1942: Archie G. Worthing
- 1943–1944: August H. Pfund
- 1945–1946: George R. Harrison
- 1947–1948: Rudolf Kingslake
- 1949–1950: William F. Meggers
- 1951–1952: Brian O'Brien
- 1953–1954: Deane B. Judd
- 1955–1957: Ralph A. Sawyer
- 1958: Irvine Clifton Gardner
- 1959: John D. Strong
- 1960: James G. Baker
- 1961: Wallace R. Brode
- 1962: David MacAdam
- 1963: Stanley S. Ballard
- 1964: Richard C. Lord
- 1965: Seibert Q. Duntley
- 1966: Van Zandt Williams
- 1967: John A. Sanderson
- 1968: Arthur F. Turner
- 1969: Karl G. Kessler
- 1970: W. Lewis Hyde
- 1971: Bruce H. Billings
- 1972: Aden B. Meinel
- 1973: Robert E. Hopkins
- 1974: F. Dow Smith
- 1975: Arthur L. Schawlow
- 1976: Boris P. Stoicheff
- 1977: Peter Franken
- 1978: Emil Wolf
- 1979: Dudley Williams
- 1980: Warren J. Smith
- 1981: Anthony J. DeMaria
- 1982: Robert P. Madden
- 1983: Kenneth M. Baird
- 1984: Donald R. Herriott
- 1985: Robert R. Shannon
- 1986: Jean M. Bennett
- 1987: Robert G. Greenler
- 1988: William B. Bridges
- 1989: Herwig Kogelnik
- 1990: Richard L. Abrams
- 1991: John N. Howard
- 1992: Joseph W. Goodman
- 1993: Elsa M. Garmire
- 1994: Robert L. Byer
- 1995: Tingye Li
- 1996: Duncan T. Moore
- 1997: Janet S. Fender
- 1998: Gary C. Bjorklund
- 1999: Anthony E. Siegman
- 2000: Erich P. Ippen
- 2001: Richard C. Powell
- 2002: Anthony M. Johnson
- 2003: G. Michael Morris
- 2004: Peter L. Knight
- 2005: Susan Houde-Walter
- 2006: Eric Van Stryland
- 2007: Joseph H. Eberly
- 2008: Rod C. Alferness
- 2009: Thomas M. Baer
- 2010: James C. Wyant
- 2011: Christopher Dainty
- 2012: Tony Heinz
- 2013: Donna Strickland
- 2014: Philip H. Bucksbaum
- 2015: Philip St. John Russell
- 2016: Alan E. Willner
- 2017: Eric Mazur
- 2018: Ian Walmsley
- 2019: Ursula Gibson
- 2020: Stephen D. Fantone
- 2021: Constance J. Chang-Hasnain
- 2022: Satoshi Kawata
- 2023: Michal Lipson
- 2024: Gerd Leuchs
- 2025: James Kafka
Notable people
- Hilda Conrady Kingslake, optics researcher, author of the "History of the Optical Society of America, 1916-1966" and "The First 50 Years — the Institute of Optics 1929-1979."[20]
- Delwin Lindsey, editor of the society journal[21]
