Leuchs has been leading research groups since 1985, including a period from 1990 to 1994 when he worked in industry in Switzerland. He then moved on to the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg. Following a 5-year block grant by the Max-Planck Society, the new Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light was established in 2009. There Leuchs served as a director until 2019, when he received emeritus status and continued leading a smaller-scale research group. Gerd also works part time at the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg and is currently affiliated with the Institute of Applied Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences at Nizhny-Novgorod. In addition, he has close ties to the University of Ottawa as professor adjunct.

“Gerd has been an active member of our organization throughout his professional life,” said Optica CEO Elizabeth Rogan. “His groundbreaking work in laser spectroscopy and quantum communication and his extensive knowledge of our organization will be great assets.” His four-year commitment to Optica’s board of directors consists of serving one year as vice president in 2022, followed by one year as president-elect in 2023, president in 2024 and past president in 2025.

Judith Dawes is a professor of Physics and director of Macquarie University’s MQ Photonics Research Centre, Sydney, Australia, and is a member of the academic senate of the university. After holding postdoctoral positions at the University of Toronto, Canada, and Macquarie University, she was appointed to a faculty position at Macquarie where she served as head of the department of physics and astronomy from 2013 to 2015.

An Optica fellow since 2019, Dawes’ current research focuses on the collective interactions of light at the nanoscale, applying nanophotonics to imaging and sensing. Her research achievements include the crystal growth, optical characterization, and laser operation of a new laser crystal, Yb:YAB, which emits tunable, self-frequency-doubled, infrared and green light; and the invention of a laser-cured protein solder for laser microsurgery to repair severed nerves and blood vessels.

Min Qiu has been a chair professor of photonics and vice president for research at Westlake University, China, since April 2018. He received a PhD in physics from Zhejiang University, China, in 1999. Qiu received his second PhD degree in electromagnetics and became an assistant professor at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm, Sweden, in 2001. He became a full professor at KTH in 2009 before moving to Zhejiang University in 2010, where he was the director of State Key Laboratory of Modern Optical Instrumentation.

Professor Qiu’s research interests include nanofabrication technology, nanophotonics, and green photonics. Named an Optica fellow in 2015, he is currently leading a project on solar thermal energy utilization through the National Key Research and Development Program of China.