Bellingham, Washington -- In 2020, SPIE welcomes 72 Members as new Fellows of the Society. Fellows are Members of distinction who have made significant scientific and technical contributions in the multidisciplinary fields of optics, photonics, and imaging. They are honored for their technical achievement and for their service to the general optics community and to SPIE in particular. More than 1,500 SPIE Members have become Fellows since the Society's inception in 1955.

New Fellows receive their plaques from the current SPIE President as well as in-person recognition from their peers at the SPIE conference of their choice during the year that they are inducted. This year, due to the coronavirus pandemic, SPIE has transitioned several in-person conferences to digital forums.

Therefore, we will be celebrating the Fellows virtually as well, via articles such as this one and through our various online platforms. These recognitions will be timed to the new Fellows' preferred SPIE conferences, during their digital-forum timeframe. Additionally, each Fellow will be invited to enjoy the traditional in-person recognition at the 2021 event of their choice.

This year, two new Fellows, John Dudley and Zouheir Sekkat, elected to be recognized at 2020 SPIE Photonics Europe.

John Dudley, a professor of physics at CNRS Institute FEMTO-ST, Université de Franche-Comté, France, who also served as the President of the European Physical Society from April 2013-March 2015, is recognized specifically for his achievements in ultrafast and nonlinear optics as well as leadership in outreach activities. Dudley was awarded the 2019 SPIE Harold E. Edgerton Award for his contributions to ultrashort pulse measurements in nonlinear fiber optics. In 2009, he initiated and chaired the International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies 2015, an initiative which is now continues each year on 16 May with UNESCO's International Day of Light, an annual celebration of light and its impact on science, culture, and development.

Zouheir Sekkat, of the Moroccan Foundation for Advanced Science, Innovation, and Research, is recognized specifically for achievements in photonics, inventing sub-Tg light induced molecular motion in nonlinear optical polymers, and developing related theories. He has been an SPIE Organic Photonics and Electronics conference chair for several years - Molecular and Nano Machines - as well as a member of the conference program committee for SPIE Organic Photonics and Electronics: Light Manipulating Organic Materials and Devices.

As noted earlier this year by Jeffrey Puschell, Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems engineer and the chair of the SPIE Fellows Committee, SPIE Fellows represent the vibrant technical range, diversity, and ethos of the Society, and the SPIE Fellows program proudly honors the innovations that these research, industry, and government scientists create, develop, and implement across the optics and photonics landscape. SPIE invites every constituent in our community to consider your distinguished colleagues, their professionalism, and their work. Then, send us your nominations for next year's SPIE Fellows by 15 September.

The complete list of the 2020 SPIE Fellows is available online, along with a list of all SPIE Fellows, nomination criteria, and the SPIE Fellows nomination form.