Out of a meeting of a little group of men in Rochester, New York in December, 1916 grew three institutions that have shaped the growth of optics for the past century: the Optical Society, the Journal of the Optical Society of America, and The Institute of Optics.  In this lecture we will follow the educational arm of this triad, The University of Rochester’s Institute of Optics, from this meeting through its approaching centennial. We will go from balloon flights to study the ozone layer in the 1930s, through the exciting days of the 40’s, when it was the leading academic optical research center for the war effort, through the development of coherence theory and quantum optics, to today when The Institute along with its associated Laboratory of Laser Energetics and Center for Visual Science make up one of the largest academic programs in optics in the country, source of nearly half of all degrees in optics in the country.

Talk Video

Carlos R. Stroud, Jr., has an AB degree in physics and mathematics from Centre College, and a PhD degree (1969) in physics from Washington University. He is currently professor of optics and professor of physics, and director of the Center for Quantum Information. He is a fellow of both the Optical Society of America and the American Physical Society. He has lectured in more than 75 different universities, held several lectureships, and since 1998 is a distinguished traveling lecturer for the Division of Laser Science of the American Physical Society.