David Richardson Medal
# David Richardson Medal

The David Richardson Medal is awarded by the Optical Society (formerly the Optical Society of America) to recognize contributions to optical engineering, primarily in the commercial and industrial sector. The award was first made in 1966 to its namesake David J. Richardson. He received it for distinctive contributions to the ruling and replicating of gratings, used to determine the transfer functions of lenses. There is a prize associated with the medal.

Richardson received a graduate degree in spectroscopy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the mid-1930s. He was hired by Bausch and Lomb in 1947 to establish a grating and scale-ruling laboratory that became the world's leader in diffraction gratings. The lab, which was renamed for him in 1966, has since 2004 belonged to the Newport Corporation.

## Recipients

| Year | Recipient |
| - | - |
| 2023 | Turan Erdogan |
| 2022 | Jim Tatum |
| 2021 | Majid Ebrahim-Zadeh |
| 2020 | G. Michael Morris |
| 2019 | Frederick J. Leonberger |
| 2018 | Steve Frisken |
| 2017 | John Canning |
| 2016 | Francisco J. Duarte |
| 2015 | Daniel R. Neal |
| 2014 | Jannick P. Rolland |
| 2012 | Gregory W. Forbes |
| 2011 | Jasbinder S. Sanghera |
| 2011 | Ishwar D. Aggarwal |
| 2010 | Kenneth E. Moore |
| 2009 | Eric Udd |
| 2008 | Kanti Jain |
| 2007 | James L. Fergason |
| 2006 | Gary S Duck |
| 2005 | John R. Sandercock |
| 2004 | Chungte W. Chen |
| 2003 | Roland V. Shack |
| 2002 | Arthur H. Guenther |
| 2001 | Huib Visser |
| 2000 | Achim J. Leistner |
| 1999 | Milan R. Kokta |
| 1998 | Yoshiharu Namba |
| 1997 | Brian H. Welham |
| 1996 | J. A. Dobrowolski |
| 1995 | Julian Stone |
| 1994 | David A. Markle |
| 1993 | John H. Bruning |
| 1992 | Ichiro Kitano |
| 1991 | Gary K. Starkweather |
| 1990 | Jean M. Bennett |
| 1989 | Erik W. Anthon |
| 1988 | Janusz S. Wilczynski |
| 1987 | John W. Evans |
| 1986 | John L. Plummer |
| 1985 | Norman John Brown |
| 1984 | Erwin G. Loewen |
| 1983 | Harold Osterberg |
| 1982 | Charles A. Burrus |
| 1981 | Abe Offner |
| 1980 | William T. Plummer |
| 1980 | Richard F. Weeks |
| 1979 | William P. Ewald |
| 1978 | Thomas James Johnson |
| 1977 | Walter P. Siegmund |
| 1976 | John McLeod |
| 1975 | Karl Lambrecht |
| 1974 | Roderic M. Scott |
| 1972 | William G. Fastie |
| 1971 | Frank Cooke |
| 1970 | Richard S. Hunter |
| 1969 | Howard Cary |
| 1968 | Harold E. Edgerton |
| 1967 | George A. Morton |
| 1966 | David J. Richardson |
