Founded in 1929, through a grant from Eastman Kodak and Bausch and Lomb, the Institute is the oldest educational program in the United States devoted to optics. During World War I, many American defense companies relied heavily on German optics. The need for an American-based institution of optical training became apparent when the flow of German imports, including optics, attenuated. The Institute of Optics has long been deeply involved in American optics study and research. The Optical Society of America was founded in 1916 by 30 optical scientists and instrument makers based in Rochester. The proximity of Rochester to many optical companies has provided an excellent environment for collaboration with industry, as well as funding for research. These companies include Xerox, Eastman Kodak, Corning Glass Works, Bausch and Lomb, and many others. The Institute of Optics occupied the top floor of Bausch and Lomb Hall from 1931 to 1977. Currently, the Institute is primarily housed in the Wilmot Building on the River Campus of the University of Rochester; construction began in 1961 with support from NASA, as well as other buildings and centers, including the Laboratory for Laser Energetics. The Institute successfully expanded into the new Robert B. Goergen Hall for Biomedical Engineering and Optics, which was completed in March 2007 and was dedicated on May 17, 2007. In 2018, Donna Strickland, became the Institute's first alumni to become a Nobel Laureate, winning the Nobel Prize in Physics with former Institute ProfessorGérard Mourou.
Notable faculty
Late Professor Leonard Mandel: Pioneer in the field of quantum optics, first demonstrated photon self interference, discovered the Mandel Formula.
Late Professor Rudolf Kingslake: Pioneer in the field of lens design, founding faculty member.
Late Professor Emil Wolf: Pioneer in the field of coherence theory and quantum optics, predicted the Wolf Effect.
Professor P. Scott Carney: Director of The Institute and Pioneer in the field of physical optics.
Professor Robert W. Boyd: Pioneer in the field of non-linear optics.
Professor Joseph H. Eberly: Pioneer in the field of quantum optics and former President of the Optical Society of America.
Professor Carlos Stroud: Pioneer in the field of quantum optics and Quantum Information.
Professor James Zavislan: Professor of Optics, Biomedical Engineering and Ophthalmology.
Professor James Fienup: Pioneer in optical imaging and phase retrieval.
Former Professor Lukas Novotny: Pioneer in nano-optics.
Professor Chunlei Guo: Pioneer in femtosecond laser processing of materials.
Professor Thomas G. Brown: Noted for the study of unconventional polarization states of light and academic co-lead for Test, Assembly and Packaging in AIM Photonics.
Professor Jannick Rolland: Director of the Center for Freeform Optics and the Robert E. Hopkins Center for Optical Design and Engineering.
