SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics (Bellingham, WA) and Vanderbilt University (Nashville, TN) have established the SPIE Faculty Fellowship in Optics and Photonics—a $500,000 gift from the SPIE Endowment Matching Program that will be matched 100% by Vanderbilt. This is the eighth major SPIE gift to universities and institutes as part of its ongoing program to support the expansion of optical engineering teaching and research.
The SPIE Faculty Fellowship will support a Vanderbilt University faculty member who is working in optics and photonics: Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering Yuankai “Kenny” Tao has been selected as the recipient of the first gift.
Tao received his bachelor’s degrees in electrical and computer engineering and biomedical engineering, as well as a master’s degree and a PhD in biomedical engineering, from Duke University (Durham, NC). Prior to joining the faculty at Vanderbilt, Tao was an assistant professor in the Department of Ophthalmic Research at Cleveland Clinic (Cleveland, OH) and director of the Diagnostic Imaging and Biophotonics Laboratory at Cole Eye Institute (Beachwood, OH).
The SPIE Endowment Matching Program was established in 2019 to increase international capacity in the teaching and research of optics and photonics. With this latest endowment, the program crosses the $3-million threshold for funds provided. The SPIE Endowment Matching Program supports optics and photonics education and the future of the industry by contributing a match of up to $500,000 per award to college and university programs with optics and photonics degrees, or with other disciplines allied to the SPIE mission.