The OSA Foundation announced that the fundraising campaign to endow and
rename The Optical Society (OSA) Leadership Award in memory of Robert
E. Hopkins exceeded its $100,000 fundraising goal in just six months.
The campaign, which began earlier this year, was led by OSA Board of
Directors Member Charles E. Synborski. The newly renamed
award honors Hopkins’ tremendous contributions to the field of
optical engineering and to the optics community.
The Robert E. Hopkins Leadership Award will be given to an individual
or group that has had a significant impact on the global optics and
photonics community or on society as a whole stemming from
non-research-oriented activities. It will be presented each fall during
the OSA Annual Meeting, Frontiers in Optics.
The award’s endowment was made possible by the support of
both corporate and individual donors, including CVI Melles Griot,
Semrock, and ATFilms, Units of IDEX Corporation; The Institute of
Optics; Sydor Optics Inc.; Corning Incorporated; Hellma USA
Incorporated; IPG Photonics Corp.; LaCroix Optical Co.; u2t Photonics
AG; Edmund Optics; Lambda Research Corporation; Optimax Systems, Inc.;
Prof. James A. & Mrs. Gail Eyer; Duncan Moore; Matthew Rimmer; John
Bruning; Bill Mimmack; G. Michael Morris; Charles and Judith Munnerlyn;
Jannick and Kevin Rolland-Thompson; James C. Wyant; James Fienup; and
Brian J. Thompson.
“The OSA Foundation is very pleased to have surpassed our
original fundraising goal to establish the Robert E. Hopkins Leadership
Award,” said Rebecca L. Reeds, OSA Foundation director.
“Dr. Hopkins made so many lasting and extensive contributions
throughout his career, and we welcomed the opportunity to honor his
lifelong commitment to the field. On behalf of OSA and the OSA
Foundation, I thank everyone who contributed to this award, especially
Chuck Synborski for his outstanding leadership of the campaign.”
Hopkins, who passed away in 2009, became a member of OSA in 1937 and
served as OSA president in 1973. Recognized as an expert in optical
instrument design, aspheric optics, interferometry, lasers, and lens
testing, Hopkins has been characterized as the “father of optical
engineering.” He was a recipient of OSA’s Frederic Ives
Medal (1970) and Joseph Fraunhofer Award (1983). He was also a Fellow
of the American Physical Society, served on the SPIE Board of
Governors, and was a member of Sigma Xi, the American Society for
Engineering Education and numerous advisory panels. His legacy
continues through the Robert E. Hopkins Professor of Optics endowed
chair and the Robert E. Hopkins Center for Optical Design and
Engineering at the University of Rochester.
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