James Clair Wyant (July 31, 1943 – December 8, 2023) was a professor at the College of Optical Sciences at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

where he was Director (1999–2005) and Dean (2005–2012). He received a B.S. in physics from

Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a Private university, private research university in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1967 by a merger between Western Reserve University and the Case Institute of Technology. Case ...

and M.S. and Ph.D. in optics from the

Institute of Optics The Institute of Optics is a academic department, department and research center at the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York. The institute grants degrees at the bachelor's degree, bachelor's, master's degree, master's and doctorate, do ...

at the

University of Rochester The University of Rochester is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded in 1850 and moved into its current campus, next to the Genesee River in 1930. With approximately 30,000 full ...

Career

He was a founder of the WYKO Corporation and served as its president and board chairman from 1984 to 1997. He was also a founder of the 4D Technology Corporation and served as its board chairman. Wyant was a member of the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American Nonprofit organization, nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. It is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), along with the National Academ ...

, a Fellow of Optica,

SPIE SPIE (formerly the Society of Photographic Instrumentation Engineers, later the Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers) is an international not-for-profit professional society for optics and photonics technology, founded in 1955. It ...

(International Society of Optics and Photonics), and the Optical Society of India, an honorary member of the Optical Society of Korea, and former editor-in-chief of the OSA journal Applied Optics. He was the 2010 president of OSA and the 1986 president of SPIE. Since 2010, he had been a member of the Board of Trustees of Case Western Reserve University. In April 2019, the College of Optical Sciences at the

was renamed to be the James C. Wyant College of Optical Sciences in his honor.

Awards

* AccountabilIT Lifetime Achievement Award from the Arizona Technology Council, 2019 *

Visionary Award, 2019 * Optica Joseph Fraunhofer Award * SPIE Gold Medal, 2003 *

Technology Achievement Award *

Chandra Vikram Award *

College of Engineering Distinguished Alumnus Award * Doctorado Honoris Causa from the Instituto Nacional de Astrofisica, Optica y Electronica in Puebla, Mexico. * Arizona's “Innovator of the Year” Product Award * Tom Brown Excellence in Entrepreneurship Award *

Technology Innovation Award; * Arizona Technology Council William F. McWhortor Award. * Optica Frederic Ives Medal/Jarus W. Quinn Prize * Optica Honorary Membership

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wyant, James C. Living people American optical physicists Case Western Reserve University alumni University of Rochester alumni University of Arizona faculty Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering 1943 births