Amnon Yariv named 2017 Honorary Member of the Optical Society

EE alumnus Amnon Yariv (B.S ’54/M.S. ’56/Ph.D. ’58) has been named a 2017 Honorary Member of the Optical Society (OSA).  Honorary Membership is the most distinguished of all OSA Member categories and is awarded to individuals who have made unique, seminal contributions to the field of optics.  Yariv was elected for pioneering scientific and engineering contributions to photonics and quantum electronics that have profoundly impacted lightwave communications and the field of optics as a whole. His research has focused on creating the mathematical tools and building blocks underpinning guided wave optics, the backbone of today’s optoelectronic technologies. This endeavor led to the proposal and demonstration of the distributed feedback laser — the main light source and information carrier of internet traffic — and started the field of optoelectronic integrated circuits.  Yariv, who is currently a professor at the California Institute of Technology, received the National Medal of Science in 2010.