John Howell Named OSA Young Researcher

John C. Howell, an assistant professor of physics at the University of Rochester, was named the recipient of the 2006 Adolph Lomb Medal from the Optical Society of America (OSA) for his contributions to quantum optics — particularly aspects of quantum cloning, violations of Bell's inequalities and maximal photonic entanglement, OSA said. Howell has written papers from both the University of Rochester (UR) and the University of Oxford on new capabilities in quantum optical information science which will likely become classics in this field, said Robert W. Boyd, a professor of optics and physics at the UR. Howell is currently investigating ways to transmit thousands of times more information via ultrasecure quantum encryption than has ever been transmitted. The Adolph Lomb medal is presented to scientists under 35 who have made noteworthy contributions to optics. It was named for the son of Bausch & Lomb's co-founder; Adloph was OSA's treasurer from its founding until his death in 1932. Howell will receive the award at the annual OSA meeting, to be held Oct. 8-12 at the Riverside Convention Center in Rochester.