University of Rochester Archives
Institute of Optics papers
University of Rochester. Institute of Optics
UA23
/repositories/4/resources/1268
1.96 cubic feet
(5 containers)
1943-2018
English
.
Conditions Governing Access
For access to this collection, please contact the University of Rochester Archives (archives@library.rochester.edu) at least two business days prior to your planned visit.
Please note: Some materials may be restricted or require permission for use.
Conditions Governing Use
To request reproductions or permission to publish materials from the collection, please contact the University of Rochester Archives (archives@library.rochester.edu). Researchers may be responsible for determining any copyright questions.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Materials transferred by Professor Carlos Stroud beginning in May 2005. Summer Course Brochures transferred by Gina Kern on December 20, 2018.
Biographical / Historical
Following a decade of discussions among the Optical Society of America, President Rush Rhees, Bausch & Lomb, and Eastman Kodak about the development of a site for the study of optics, the Institute of Applied Optics at the University of Rochester opened in 1929. T. Russell Wilkins was the first acting director, and among the early faculty members were Rudolf Kingslake, A.M. Taylor, Ernst Petry, and Gustave Fassin. Until 1936, the Institute included an optometry program. In 1939, the name of the Institute of Applied Optics (which suggested a focus on the application of optical concepts) was changed to the Institute of Optics in order to accommodate more topics of study.
From 1940 to 1953, the Institute was involved in various research projects, including the theodolite telescope and high-speed streak camera experiments during World War II. In 1955, the University acquired its first computer, an important asset to the Institute. In the following years, the newsletter entitled the Institute of Optics News (which later became Image) was founded, and the Institute began providing summer school opportunities. In 1961, the Institute of Optics became one of the engineering branches under the College of Engineering and Applied Science. The Center for Visual Science, involving collaboration between Institute faculty and other departments, was founded in 1963. The field of optics and the Institute gained heightened attention in the 1960s with the invention of the laser. In 1963, the Institute held a Laser Road Show, in which Institute faculty gave traveling lectures about lasers. In the 1970s, the Institute introduced an Industrial Associates Program, inviting representatives from optics companies to the Institute to visit and meet with students and faculty. In 1976, the Laboratory for Laser Energetics was built to house the Laser Fusion Feasibility Project, which relied on research by Institute of Optics faculty and students. The same year, the Institute moved from Bausch & Lomb Hall to the Space Science Center (later named the Wilmot Building) to allow for more space. In March 2007, Goergen Hall was built and connected to Wilmot to house laboratories, faculty offices, and classrooms for the Institute and the Biomedical Engineering Department.
The directors of the Institute, organized by date of appointment, have been:
1938: Brian O'Brien
1954: Robert E. Hopkins
1965: Lewis Hyde
1968: Brian J. Thompson
1977: Nicholas George
1981: Kenneth J. Teegarden
1987: Duncan Moore
1993: Dennis Hall
2001: Wayne Knox
2011: Xi-Cheng Zhang
2017: P. Scott Carney
2021: Thomas G. Brown
Scope and Contents
The Institute of Optics collection contains the following series: History, Photographs, Faculty/Staff, Publications and Publicity, the Industrial Associates Program, and Summer Course Brochures. Materials related to History include research and reports, anniversary celebration information, and correspondence about the development of the Institute. Subjects of Photographs include people, buildings, and research experiments. Among the material in the Faculty/Staff series are letters from alumni to Helen Tobin, the first secretary to the director of the Institute, celebrating her retirement. Publications and Publicity include annotated copies of newsletters, an article about Todd AO (a widescreen process for motion pictures) and Brian O'Brien, and pamphlets on graduate study at the Institute. Industrial Associates Program contents include two binders with planning material. Summer Course Brochures, which begin in 1962, contain information about the various continuing-education courses offered by the Institute.
Separated Materials
A photograph of Brian O'Brien has been separated from the collection and is located in the University Photographs Collection.
Issues of the Institute of Optics Newsletter (ION) and Image are available as cataloged materials.
Related Materials
Institute of Applied Optics Papers, UA200
Institute of Optics: "Amontillado's Arcanum," UA25
Institute of Optics: John Cushing Evans Papers, UA26
Institute of Optics: Lens Design Historical Materials, UA17
Brian O'Brien Papers, D.340
Kingslake Papers, D.333
Preferred Citation
[Item title, item date], Institute of Optics Papers, UA23, Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester
Bibliography
A Jewel in the Crown. Ed. Carlos R. Stroud. Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press, 2004.
Kingslake, Hilda G."Institute of Optics 1929-1979, a Brief Commemorative." Applied Optics 18.19 (1979), pages 3223-3229. Accessed 29 March 2018.
Hopkins, Robert. Interview by Joan Bromberg and Emil Wolf. "Oral History Interviews." American Institute of Physics, 23 September 1984. Accessed 2 April 2018.
May, Arthur J."The Changing College." A History of the University of Rochester, 1850-1962. Rochester, NY: University of Rochester, 1977. Accessed 29 March 2018.
"University of Rochester Dedicates Goergen Hall." University of Rochester Newscenter. University of Rochester, 16 May 2007. Accessed 28 March 2018.
Optics
New York (State)--Rochester
University of Rochester. Institute of Optics
Series I: History/repositories/4/archival_objects/307487Correspondence With Eastman Kodak about Professional Courses, Development of the Institute of Optics, and the Relationship Between the University and Industry/repositories/4/archival_objects/3075531943-194511Scope and ContentsCorrespondents include C.E.K. Mees, Thomas J. Hargrave, and University of Rochester President Alan Valentine.
University of Rochester and Institute of Optics Research and Reports/repositories/4/archival_objects/307554August 15, 1943; August 21, 1946; undated12Institute of Optics Correspondence, Budgets, and Reports/repositories/4/archival_objects/3075551947-195813-4Scope and ContentsIncludes material related to the formation of the College of Engineering and Applied Science, the integration of the Institute into the College of Engineering and Applied Science, and the effect of this integration on the faculty.
"A History of the Institute of Optics," by Rudolf and Hilda Kingslake, Applied Optics/repositories/4/archival_objects/307556April 197015The First Fifty Years, The Institute of Optics, 1929-1979, by Hilda G. Kingslake/repositories/4/archival_objects/307557197916Optics at Imperial College: The Early Years, by Gilbert E. Satterthwaite/repositories/4/archival_objects/307558June 6, 19971775th Anniversary Celebration and Celebration of the Kingslakes/repositories/4/archival_objects/307559200418Series II: Photographs/repositories/4/archival_objects/307576Bausch & Lomb Optical Company Advertisement; Photograph of Students Using an Optical Bench/repositories/4/archival_objects/307560194721Prints and Negatives: Faculty/Staff and Students/repositories/4/archival_objects/30756122-5Group Photograph: Quantum Optics - Department of Physics/repositories/4/archival_objects/307562July 197026Slides from 1987 Optics Alumni Reunion Scrapbook; Print of Resolution Presented to Robert Hopkins at the 1987 Alumni Reunion/repositories/4/archival_objects/307563198727Prints and Negatives: College of Engineering and Applied Science Class Composites/repositories/4/archival_objects/3075641970, 1972-198628Physics and Optics Faculty and Graduate Students/repositories/4/archival_objects/307565Summer 193429Prints and Negatives: Robert Hopkins, Ian Walmsley, and M. Parker Givens/repositories/4/archival_objects/3075662001210Prints and Negatives: Dennis G. Hall/repositories/4/archival_objects/3075672001211Prints and Negatives: Ian Walmsley/repositories/4/archival_objects/3075682001212Prints and Negatives: Gary Wicks/repositories/4/archival_objects/3075692001213Prints: Robert Hopkins, Ian Walmsley, and M. Parker Givens; M. Parker Givens and Charles Merriam; Robert Hopkins and M. Parker Givens/repositories/4/archival_objects/312085200112Series III: Faculty/Staff/repositories/4/archival_objects/307584Tribute to Helen Tobin/repositories/4/archival_objects/307570May-July 1972214Letters to Helen Tobin on Her Retirement/repositories/4/archival_objects/307571May-July 1972Letters and Congratulations Cards to Helen Tobin on Her Retirement/repositories/4/archival_objects/3075721972216Letters to Helen Tobin on Her Retirement; Letter Celebrating Her 40th Anniversary at the Institute/repositories/4/archival_objects/307573May-July 1972; March 31, 1970217Photographs of Helen Tobin With Captions; Letter From Brian J. Thompson Concerning Letters, Cards, and Photographs for Helen Tobin's Retirement/repositories/4/archival_objects/3075741972, 1996218Processing InformationFor preservation reasons, the photographs were removed from their original housing in an album in 2018.
Optical Society of America Annual Meeting; Robert Hopkins Recognition Dinner Invitations/repositories/4/archival_objects/3075751987219Series IV: Publications and publicity/repositories/4/archival_objects/307585"Mike Todd and His Big Bug-Eye," Article about Todd AO and Brian O'Brien/repositories/4/archival_objects/30758611Scope and ContentsBrian O'Brien is pictured and mentioned on pages 142 and 144.
Cinerama Postcards/repositories/4/archival_objects/30758731Institute of Optics Newsletter (I.O.N.) Distribution Study/repositories/4/archival_objects/3075881960-196532Institute of Optics Newsletter (I.O.N.) Memorandum on the Institute of Optics Becoming a Department in the College of Engineering; Annotated Copies of Institute of Optics Newsletter (I.O.N.)/repositories/4/archival_objects/307589undated, April 1963, April 1964, Spring 1966, Winter 1968-196933University Record/repositories/4/archival_objects/307590October 1965, February 196634Annotated Copies of Institute of Optics Image News/repositories/4/archival_objects/307591Fall 1971, Winter 1973-197435News from the Institute of Optics/repositories/4/archival_objects/307592November 1972-Spring 197836Institute of Optics Image News/repositories/4/archival_objects/307593Spring 198137Institute of Optics News; RIT Technical and Education Center of the Graphic Arts News; New York State Science and Technology Foundation News/repositories/4/archival_objects/3075941985-198738Optics: Focus on Imaging and Photonics/repositories/4/archival_objects/307595Spring 200439Press Release: "OSA and SPIE Join Forces to Emphasize Importance of R&D Funding to Congress"/repositories/4/archival_objects/307596May 18, 2005310Graduate Study at the Institute of Optics/repositories/4/archival_objects/3075971968-1969, 1986-1987, 1989311Space Science Center Dedication and Publicity/repositories/4/archival_objects/307601312Series V: Industrial Associates Program/repositories/4/archival_objects/307598Planning Material Binder/repositories/4/archival_objects/3075991974-1975313Planning Material Binder/repositories/4/archival_objects/3076001975-1976, 1976-1977314Series VI: Summer course brochures/repositories/4/archival_objects/316176Scope and ContentsSummer course brochures (1962-2018) are geared to individuals with a bachelor's degree in physics or engineering (or the equivalent experience) who are working in the field and wish to expand their knowledge of subtopics in optics. The format of the brochures changed over the years. From 1962-2008, there was a registration form attached to the brochure. From 1962-1977, the brochures listed one course. Starting in 1978, the number and variety of courses increased. Courses have included Fundamentals of Optics, Optical Design, Modern Optical Engineering, and Biomedical Optics, among others.
_/repositories/4/archival_objects/3161771962-196941_/repositories/4/archival_objects/3161781970-197742Scope and ContentsAlong with summer course brochures, this file includes several brochures for seminars held in Rochester that were organized by the Optical Society of America and other organizations. Optics professors from the Institute led some of these seminars.
_/repositories/4/archival_objects/3161791978-198743_/repositories/4/archival_objects/3161801988-199544_/repositories/4/archival_objects/3161811996-200445_/repositories/4/archival_objects/3161822005-201846