SPIE Announces 2009 Officers and Directors

Kevin Harding, SPIE 2008 president, announced the recent 2009 election results at this year’s Annual General Meeting of the Society on August 12, in San Diego. Beginning on January 1, 2009, Maria J. Yzuel, who was elected by SPIE members, will take over as president. Yzuel is a professor with the Department of Physics, Group of Optics, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona (UAB), Spain. Yzuel has published more than 200 scientific papers, made more than 200 regular contributions in scientific conferences and supervised 20 PhD theses. Ralph B. James, associate lab director at Brookhaven National Laboratory, was elected 2009 president elect. He has published over 400 journal articles, conference proceedings, book chapters and invited review papers, has 10 patents, and is the editor of 11 books on sensors, spectroscopy and imaging. SPIE’s newly elected 2009 vice president, Katarina Svanberg, is a professor of oncology and chief physician in oncology at Lund University in Lund, Sweden, where she received her MD and PhD in Medical Science. Svanberg, a SPIE Fellow, is a recipient of the SKAPA Innovation Prize, and has given invited talks at 85 international conferences and 30 foreign universities. Brian A. Lula was elected by SPIE members to serve as the 2009 secretary/treasurer. Lula is the president and CEO of PI Physik Instrumente. He graduated in mechanical engineering from Centennial College in Ontario, Canada, and completed advanced engineering courses at the University of Michigan. Lula is a CCD astronomical imager/educator with published photos in popular astronomy magazines and was featured in a personal exhibit at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum in Washington DC.