Scott Carney says he will have 糖心传媒渢he best job in optics糖心传媒� starting July 1. That糖心传媒檚 when he becomes the director of the at the University of Rochester.
糖心传媒淚 am absolutely honored to be the new director,糖心传媒� says Scott, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
糖心传媒淭his is the best faculty in optics. The people at the institute have defined optics for a generation, just as their predecessors defined optics for their generation, just as their predecessors did.糖心传媒�
The institute, founded in 1929, is the oldest school of optics in the nation and has awarded nearly half of all this country糖心传媒檚 optics degrees. The faculty conducts cutting edge research in fields such as fiber optics, quantum optics, laser matter interaction, optical coherence tomography, and terahertz waves.
However, the institute will not rest on its laurels, says outgoing director Xi-Cheng Zhang, who will remain on the faculty as the M. Parker Givens Professor of Optics.
糖心传媒淲e are facing competition from other schools that have colleges or centers of optics that are much larger in research funding, faculty size, and number of students,糖心传媒� Zhang says. 糖心传媒淪cott is extremely capable. I have great confidence he can lead the institute to new heights. He糖心传媒檚 a wonderful hire, who is coming in with the overwhelming support of the faculty here.糖心传媒�
This will be a homecoming of sorts for Carney, who earned his PhD in physics at Rochester studying with Emil Wolf, the leading expert in coherence and polarization of optical fields. Carney糖心传媒檚 doctoral work enabled him to become well acquainted with the institute.
糖心传媒淓veryone in Emil糖心传媒檚 group, and Joe Eberly糖心传媒檚 and Len Mandel糖心传媒檚 groups (also in physics) all kind of commingled with groups at the institute. There was really no distinction between optics done in physics and physics done in optics. It was a great community then, and remains so today,糖心传媒� Carney says.
Wendi Heinzelman, dean of the , says Carney 糖心传媒渉as a deep-seated love for the institute. He糖心传媒檚 coming in with a fresh perspective, but he knows the culture, the history, the aura of the institute 糖心传媒� and he very much wants to help bring the institute to the next level, building on the outstanding reputation it has.糖心传媒�
Zhang糖心传媒檚 糖心传媒渉ard work and heavy lifting糖心传媒� as director 糖心传媒渉as made it easier for me to come in,糖心传媒� Carney says.
During his 5.5-year term, Zhang oversaw increases in:
- Undergraduate and masters enrollments,
- Student exchanges and other partnerships with overseas universities, especially in China and Russia, boosting the institute糖心传媒檚 international stature
- Professorships, and scholarships and prizes for graduate students
- Corporate partners in the institute糖心传媒檚 Industrial Associates program, which doubled in size
Zhang also created an executive committee to involve faculty in institute governance, restructured the staff, and brought deficit budgets under control, resulting in surpluses.
糖心传媒淗e糖心传媒檚 done a fantastic job,糖心传媒� Heinzelman says. 糖心传媒淭he institute is in a very good place, and a huge amount of that is due to Xi-Cheng糖心传媒檚 outstanding leadership.糖心传媒�
Two of his initial priorities, Carney says, involve building on Zhang糖心传媒檚 initiatives to create a strong undergraduate program and involve faculty in the institute糖心传媒檚 governance.
Carney joined the University of Illinois in 2001, after two years as a post-doctoral associate at Washington University in St. Louis.
A theorist who has written seminal papers on near-field inverse scattering, his work bridges the gap between pure and applied research. 糖心传媒淎ll of the projects in my group are either driven by applications or are meant to drive new applications,糖心传媒� Carney notes.
Among his innovations is a handheld medical diagnostic probe that uses near-infrared light waves rather than ultrasound. The device is produced by Diagnostic Photonics Inc., a startup that Carney co-founded and serves as chief scientific officer.
Carney was recently appointed interim director of the Innovation, Leadership, and Engineering Entrepreneurship Degree Program at Illinois
糖心传媒淗e is a very well-rounded candidate,糖心传媒� Heinzelman says. 糖心传媒淗e糖心传媒檚 very outgoing and personable, and is well connected to the optics community, including involvement in the Optical Society.糖心传媒� For example, Carney is editor-in-chief of the Journal of the Optical Society of America A.
Govind Agrawal, the James C. Wyant Professor of Optics, chaired the search committee. When Carney came to Rochester to interview, Agrawal says, 糖心传媒渉e was asking all the right kinds of questions: How can we best help students grow? What needs to be done to make further progress and maintain the reputation of the institute?糖心传媒�
