OSA Foundation kicks off fundraising campaign for summer program on lasers

Washington, DC--The OSA Foundation launched its fundraising campaign for the Siegman International Summer School on Lasers, named in honor of Anthony E. Siegman, OSA past president and founding member of the OSA Foundation Board. Siegman passed away in October 2011 at the age of 79.

Last year, Siegman served on the organizing committee for a new summer school program co-sponsored by OSA and the Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics (CIOMP; Changchun, China). The program brought together more than 100 students from 13 countries to learn about the scientific community of the host country, and helped participants establish networking contacts. The recently launched OSA Foundation campaign aims to permanently fund the Siegman International Summer School on Lasers.

Campaign chair Gary Bjorklund cites Siegman's ability to communicate complicated concepts in a clear, concise, and humorous way in his teaching and mentoring of students, his publications, and volunteer leadership as remarkable. Siegman's active involvement was a major factor in the tremendous success of the summer school program, so establishing a program in his name is a wonderful way to honor his contributions to the community and focus on inspiring young people, he adds.

Siegman, a professor on Stanford University’s Electrical Engineering faculty for more than 40 years, was an active OSA member since joining the society in 1961. He was named an OSA Fellow in 1968 and held numerous leadership roles, including serving as OSA President in 1999, and was a Director at Large on the OSA Foundation Board of Directors from 2003-2008. He also published several books and articles on lasers and masers, and received several awards, including OSA’s R.W. Wood Prize in 1980 and Frederic Ives Medal/Jarus W. Quinn Endowment in 1987.

Siegman’s wife, Jeannie Howard Siegman, serves on the endowment campaign committee, which has a goal of raising $1.1 million by this October. Other committee members are Thomas Baer, John Bjorkholm, Robert Byer, Geoff Fanning, Martin Fejer, Julie Fouquet, Joseph Goodman, Stephen Harris, Jim Hobart, Erich Ippen, Peter Knight, Dirk Kuizenga, Burton McMurtry, Paul Mussche, Jose Salcedo, and Steve Sheng.

More information on the program, including how to contribute, is available at www.osa-foundation.org/siegman.

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