SPIE, University of Rochester Establish Graduate Fellowship in Optics

SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, and the University of Rochester announced the establishment of the SPIE Graduate Fellowship in Optical Sciences and Engineering. The $500,000 gift from the SPIE Endowment Matching Program will be matched by the University of Rochester.

The SPIE Graduate Fellowship in Optical Sciences and Engineering will provide financial assistance to selected University of Rochester graduate students at the Institute of Optics working toward their Ph.D.s.

The endowment was announced Jan. 24 at SPIE Photonics West. It is the 10th major SPIE gift to universities and institutes as part of the society’s program to support the expansion of optical engineering teaching and research.

The SPIE Graduate Fellowship in Optical Sciences and Engineering will provide financial assistance to selected University of Rochester graduate students at the Institute of Optics working toward their Ph.D.s. Courtesy of SPIE.

“We are so grateful to SPIE for making this kind of investment in graduate education in optics,” said Thomas Brown, interim director at the Institute of Optics. “Our alumni have had important leadership roles in SPIE through the years — this will be a huge help in preparing the next generation of leaders in the optics community. One of the fun things about gifts like this is that it allows us to ‘invest in the best,’ to continue to search for future Nobel laureates, entrepreneurs, and engineers from all over the world to come to Rochester and be part of our growing family.”

“The SPIE Graduate Fellowship in Optical Sciences and Engineering will create transformative opportunities for Ph.D. candidates at Rochester’s Institute of Optics,” said SPIE President Anita Mahadevan-Jansen. “Rochester has a long history of successful optics education, and many of today’s leading optics researchers have emerged from its Institute of Optics. This endowed fund is a critical partnership between SPIE and the University of Rochester, one that will help ensure that pipeline of leaders continues for generations to come.”