Alan Willner is the recipient of the 2009 Leadership Award New Focus/Bookham Prize from the Optical Society of America. Willner, the leader of the USC Optical Communications Lab, is a professor in the Viterbi School's Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical Engineering.
The award recognizes: 1) An individual or group of optics professionals whose actions or policy outside the technology arena has made a significant contribution to society; this contribution may be social, economic, political or humanitarian; or 2) An individual or group whose action, policy or support has made a significant impact on the field of optics.
Alan Willner. For information on his numerous previous honors, click on the photo.
"Alan's prize is a well-deserved recognition of his many achievements in optics and photonics education and professional service," commented Hsieh Department Systems Co-Chair Alexander Sawchuk.
"Alan has a distinguished research record in the fields of photonics, fiber optic communications, and optoelectronic systems and devices, and this award honors his many additional contributions to the field. Our department joins me in congratulating him."
The award was established in 1997 to strengthen the link between the optics community and the public.
Willner's citation commends him "for several key contributions to optical science and engineering through professional society leadership, journal editorships, and education in the classroom and in short courses at conferences." The award is presented at the Annual Meeting of the OSA (Frontiers in Optics 2009), to be held in San Jose, CA, in October 2009.
Founded in 1916, the Optical Society of America (OSA) was organized to increase and diffuse the knowledge of optics, pure and applied. The purposes of the Society are scientific, technical and educational. OSA brings together optics and photonics scientists, engineers, educators, technicians and business leaders. Its membership totals more than 14,000 individuals from over 81 countries. Approximately 40% of the Society's members reside outside the United States.
