SPIE Fellow and former SPIE President Ralph James, a pioneer and leader in the development of optical and photonics technologies for high-resolution spectroscopy and imaging, will be inducted into the Long Island Technology Hall of Fame (LITHF) in Stony Brook, NY, USA, on 12 March 2014.
James is a senior scientist and group leader in the Nonproliferation & National Security Department at Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York, where he conducts basic and applied research on novel materials, electro-optical devices, imaging systems, and instrumentation.
LITHF honors the accomplishments of leaders in science or technology who have had an impact on Long Island. The organization raises funds for scholarships, outreach, and research initiatives that ensure the continuation of Long Island's economic and intellectual leadership, including providing scholarships for undergraduates at Stony Brook University.
James is a five-time winner of the prestigious R&D 100 Award and has been named Discover Magazine's "Innovator of the Year" for his technical accomplishments in developing semiconductors for digital imaging of radiation. He has authored more than 500 scientific publications, served as editor of 23 books, and holds 19 patents.
James has a long history of community involvement with SPIE and on Long Island, including as a member of the Long Island Forum for Technology (LIFT) Executive Board and the Hauppauge Industrial Association-Long Island (HIA-LI) Board. He has also been a board member of LISTnet, Long Island Museum of Science and Technology, and Calverton High-Technology Incubator. James was recognized as Long Island's "Person of the Year" in science by the Long Island Beacon in 2002 and 2009.
His SPIE involvement includes serving on program committees for SPIE conferences on hard x-ray, gamma-ray, and neutron detector physics and the medical applications of radiation detectors and penetrating radiation systems. He served as president of SPIE in 2010 and was the 2012 chair of the Council of Scientific Society Presidents.
James earned his PhD in applied physics from California Institute of Technology in 1980. Others to be honored at the induction ceremony are Miriam Rafailovich of Stony Brook University and George Skurla of Northrop Grumman. Andrew Hazen will receive the LITHF 2014 Entrepreneur Award.