Institute of Optics papers
Creator: University of Rochester. Institute of Optics
Call Number: UA23
Dates: 1943-2018
Physical Description: 1.96 Cubic feet
Language(s): Materials are in English
Repository: University of Rochester Archives

Table of Contents:

Biographical/Historical Note
Scope and Content
Subject(s)
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Access
Use
Citation
Separated Materials
Bibliography
Content List
Series I: History
Series II: Photographs
Series III: Faculty/Staff
Series IV: Publications and publicity
Series V: Industrial Associates Program
Series VI: Summer course brochures
Collection Overview
Title: Institute of Optics papers
Creator: University of Rochester. Institute of Optics
Call Number: UA23
Dates: 1943-2018
Physical Description: 1.96 Cubic feet
Language(s): Materials are in English
Repository: University of Rochester Archives

Biographical/Historical Note
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 Content
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.

Subject(s):
New York (State)--Rochester
Optics
University of Rochester. Institute of Optics
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.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.

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.



Citation
[Item title, item date], Institute of Optics papers, UA23, Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of RochesterRelated 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

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.

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.


Administrative Information
Author: Ava Hurlock (Class of 2018)
Publisher: University of Rochester Archives
Address: Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation
River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester
500 Joseph C. Wilson Blvd.
Rochester, New York 14627-0055
archives@library.rochester.edu

Finding aid publication date: April 2018
Content List