Biography of Dr. Anthony M. Johnson

(Term expires October 3, 2024)

Anthony M. Johnson, Director of the Center for Advanced Studies in Photonics Research (CASPR), Professor of Physics and Professor of Computer Science & Electrical Engineering at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) since 2003. He received a B.S. in Physics (1975) from Polytechnic Institute of New York and a PhD in Physics (1981) from City College of New York.  His PhD thesis research was conducted at AT&T Bell Laboratories with support from the Cooperative Research Fellowship Program for Minorities. He was a Distinguished Member of Technical Staff in the Photonic Circuits Research Department at Bell Labs where he spent 14 years before joining New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) in1995, where he was Chairperson and Distinguished Professor of Physics until 2003. His research career spans ultrafast optical and optoelectronic phenomena in both academia and industry. He has nearly 85 refereed publications, 2 book chapters and 4 US patents. His current research interests include the ultrafast photophysics and nonlinear optical properties of bulk, nanostructured and quantum well semiconductor structures, ultrashort pulse propagation in fibers and high-speed lightwave systems. He was 2002 President of the OSA (the Optical Society); Editor-in-Chief of Optics Letters (95-01); CLEO 1990 Program Co-Chair and CLEO 1992 Conference Co-Chair (Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics). He was a Member of the Board of Directors of the APS (American Physical Society) [94-97 & 13-14], the Board of Governors IEEE Photonics Society [93-95], the OSA Board of Directors [93-96 & 00-03] and the Governing Board AIP (American Institute of Physics) [02-08]. A Member of the DOE Basic Energy Sciences Advisory Committee [BESAC] (99-08); Member of the NRC/NAS Committee on AMO2010: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Science (05-06); Deputy Director (06-16) of the NSF Engineering Research Center MIRTHE (Mid-Infrared Technologies for Health and the Environment); Member, APS Division of Laser Science (DLS) Executive Committee (11-14) and APS Executive Board (13-14); Member, NRC Committee on Atomic, Molecular and Optical Science (CAMOS) [13-15]; Founding Editorial Board Member of Physical Review X (11-18); Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecturer (11-13); Member, Steering Committee of the International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies (IYL2015); Member (2016-2018) IEEE Corporate Innovation Award Committee; Member (2016-2018) of the APS Nominating Committee; Member, Advisory Council for the Princeton Institute for the Science and Technology of Materials (PRISM) at Princeton University (2018-2021); Member of the 2020 National Academies Panel on Materials and Manufacturing Sciences at the Army Research Laboratory. Member and Co-Founder, OSA Ad Hoc Committee on Women and Minorities in Optics (1988-1993); Co-Chair, OSA Committee on Women and Minorities in Optics (1994-1998); Chair, APS Committee on Minorities in Physics (1992-1993); OSA Representative to the AIP Liaison Committee for Under-Represented Minorities (LCURM) (2007-2019); Steering Committee Member and National Advisory Board Member of the APS Minority Bridge Program (2010-2015), Chair, APS Bridge Program’s National Advisory Board (2015-2018); Member, OSA Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Rapid Action Committee (DEI RAC) (2020-2021); (Member, 2021 IEEE Technical Activities Board (TAB) Committee on Diversity and Inclusion (CDI) (2021-). He is a Fellow of the APS, OSA, IEEE, AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science) and the National Society of Black Physicists (NSBP). Awards and honors include the 1996 APS Edward Bouchet Award; CCNY Honorary Doctorate (June 2011); History Makers/Science Makers (2013) http://www.thehistorymakers.com/biography/anthony-johnson; 2020 IEEE Life Fellow; 2021 Stephen D. Fantone Distinguished Service Award of The Optical Society (OSA). Election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2021).