Dr Späth Wins Visionary Award

SPIE, the international optics and photonics society, today presented Dr. h.c. Lothar Späth with the 2009 Visionary Award, recognizing him for his “exceptional foresight, creativity advocacy and vision” in promoting global business and helping to rebuild the city of Jena, Germany, as a seat of technology.

Dr. Späth, president and chairman of Comparable Controlling Body of Suba Beteiligungs AG and Jomed AG, took over as head of Jenoptik GmbH in 1991 and became chairman in 1996. His great talent in world politics and business generated a vital scientific environment in the area where world-renowned companies like Carl Zeiss Jena and Schott Jenaer Glaswerk were founded and flourished. Heavily bombed by British and American Allies during World War II, Jena today is a vibrant center for precision machinery, optics and photonics technology, pharmaceuticals and research.

“The success of Jena is the success of young people who said ‘I can do it,’” said Dr. Späth in accepting the award. “I believe in the brains of people, particularly young people in the universities who are eager to take chances.”

Known for getting things done with dispatch, Dr. Späth realized success in Jena by seeking and receiving significant funding from eastern and western Germany. “As a West German,” he quipped, “I never thought I would again go to East Germany.”

Diane M. Laurin
Group Publisher