Search
Close this search box.
Awards

IEEE Photonics Society Distinguished Service Award

Recognizes an exceptional individual's contributions of service which have had significant benefit to the membership of the IEEE Photonics Society as a whole.

Nominate a Colleague Today!

Nominators must complete a nominee submission by May 31 with the following:

  • Candidate contact information: Name, Affiliation, Mailing address, Email, Phone Number, IEEE Member # (not required)
  • Proposed Award Citation: (Word Count: 20) 

  • A description of the nominee’s exceptional contributions of service that has had significant benefit to the membership of the IEEE Photonics Society as a whole.  This level of service will often include serving the Society in several capacities or in positions of significant responsibility.

About the Award

The IEEE Photonics Society recognizes an exceptional individual’s contributions of service which have had significant benefit to the membership of the IEEE Photonics Society as a whole.

Presented to: An individual

Scope: To recognize an exceptional individual’s contributions of service which have had significant benefit to the membership of the IEEE Photonics Society as a whole

Prize: Plaque and Honorarium

Basis for judging: In the evaluation process, the following criteria are considered: The level of serving the Society in several capacities or in positions of significant responsibility. 

Introducing Our Award Honorees

We are proud to recognize and celebrate honorees of the IEEE Photonics Society Distinguished Service Award. 

Our Most Recent Honoree

Fontaine Photo IEEE DSA 2023

Nicolas K. Fontaine, 2023

For outstanding contributions to the mentorship and education of students and young professionals.

Nicolas K. Fontaine received the Ph.D. degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of California, Davis, CA, USA, in 2010. In his dissertation, completed while working in the Next Generation Network Systems Laboratory, he studied how to generate and measure the amplitude and phase of broadband optical waveforms in many narrowband spectral slices.

 

Since June 2011, he has been a Technical Staff Member with the Advanced Photonics Division, Bell Laboratories, Crawford Hill, NJ, USA and more recently since 2023 a department head of silicon photonics at Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, NJ.

 

Historically, at Bell Laboratories, he develops devices for space-division multiplexing in multicore and few-mode fibers, builds wavelength cross-connects and filtering devices, and investigates spectral slice coherent receivers for THz bandwidth. He is an avid jazz pianist and enjoys hiking or skiing through the mountains wherever he can find them.

View All Award Winners

Year Award Winner Citation
2022 Madeleine Glick For extensive contributions enhancing the benefit of membership championing Industry, Education, Women in Photonics, and Young Professional initiatives.
2021 Martin D. Dawson For sustained leadership in society governance from local to international level, with special distinction in conference organization and strategy.
2020 Arti Agrawal For exceptional contributions to the Photonics Society as a champion of Diversity and Inclusion initiatives.
2019 Amr S. Helmy For exceptonal contributions to the Photonics Society in the areas of conferences and membership.
2018 Dalma Novak For exceptional contributions to the Photonics Society in leadership and dedicated service through diverse activities, including outreach.
2017 Paul W. Juodawlkis For sustained leadership in society governance with significant contributions to Membership and Conferences.
2016 A. Catrina Coleman For sustained leadership in society governance with significant contributions to Conferences and Publications.
2015 David V. Plant For sustained and dedicated service to the IEEE Photonics Society, with special contributions to conferences.
2014 Filbert J. Bartoli For valuable contributions to the Society, particularly in the fields of Governance, Publications, and Conference.
2013 Kent D. Choquette For diverse and dedicated service to the Photonics Society, with special contributions in conferences.
2012 H. Scott Hinton For broad and inspiring service in governance at the Chapter, Society, and Institute levels for the betterment of the Photonics Society.
2011 Silvano Donati For continuous and wide-ranging contributions to the activity of the Society, and for founding and developing the Italian Chapter.
2010 Chennupati Jagadish For dedicated service to the Photonics Society in diverse areas, including exceptional contributions to membership activities in Asia, and significant contributions to conferences and publications.
2009 Giok Djan Khoe For exemplary vision and leadership enabling sustained growth and broadened involvement of Photonics Society members, particularly student members and international activities.
2008 James Coleman For contributions to and leadership in the area of publications.
2007 Mary Lanzerotti For dedicated service as Editor of the LEOS Newsletter from 2001 through 2006, resulting in outstanding changes in this publication.
2006 John H. Marsh For major contributions to LEOS governance and for leadership in promoting the development of LEOS as a global society.
2005 Frederick Leonberger For sustained and broad leadership of LEOS activities, with special distinction in governance and conference management.
2004 Gordon W. Day For outstanding dedication and enthusiasm in leading LEOS, with special commitment to LEOS’ financial health.
2003 Alan Willner For diverse and dedicated service to LEOS, with special contributions in technical affairs, conferences, and publications.
2002 Concetto Giuliano For continuous professional service to LEOS, with special contributions to conferences and meetings and through his leadership as President.
2001 Thomas Giallorenzi For his dedication and impact as LEOS President and founding Editor-in-Chief for the IEEE/Optica Publishing Group Journal of Lightwave Technology, and his significant contributions to LEOS through his leadership, initiative, and ongoing, dependable contributions to conferences and publications.
2000 Melvin I. Cohen For 20 years of dedicated commitment to LEOS service and leadership, including the development of conferences and publications, the organization and management of Society affairs, and the recruitment of volunteers.
1999 Edward F. Labuda For his years of dedicated service as LEOS Executive Director and his work in establishing and fostering improved management practice in the Society’s affairs.
1998 Tetsuhiko Ikegami For more than 15 years of exemplary service to LEOS, through his leadership as President and his initiatives towards globalization and the establishment of CLEO Pacific Rim.
1997 Michael Ettenberg For more than 15 years of exemplary service to LEOS, through his leadership as President and his activities with regard to publications, the Annual Meeting, and OFC.
1996 J. Gary Eden For significant contributions to LEOS technical activities and the annual meeting.
1995 Paul W. Shumate For his significant contributions to the initiation of several new optical communications journals (including JLT and PTL) and for his leadership as the first Editor-in-Chief in establishing PTL as a leading letters journal for the rapid publications of scientific advances in the photonic fields.
1994 Robert Wangemann For his extraordinary dedication and commitment to the Society, and for his critical administrative leadership as the Society’s first Executive Director in establishing and expanding effective, high-quality services and programs for members.
1993 Anthony J. DeMaria For over 25 years of professional service to the laser and electrooptics community, with special contributions in professional publications.
1992 Henry Kressel For continuous contributions to the technical community and to the Society from being its first President to the present day.
1991 Dean B. Anderson For important contributions to the founding of the society and for continued service to LEOS, including the writing of a detailed history of the society.