SPIE TIMELINE: 1955-Present
1955 - On July 1, the Society of Photographic Instrumentation Engineers is founded to specialize in the application of photo-optical instrumentation. The Society's first local technical meeting is held in Los Angeles on August 8.
1956 - Incorporated as Society of Photographic Instrumentation Engineers in the State of California. The Society produces its first product display (Exhiborama) with 250 in attendance. First 100 Members.
1957 - The first SPIE Newsletter is published. The first national technical symposium is produced. Membership in SPIE reaches 200.
1958 - Karl Fairbanks Memorial Award established. The third SPIE Symposium marks the first time government agencies cosponsor an SPIE symposium.
1959 - A. J. Carr is hired as first full-time executive secretary. The first photo-instrumentation course is organized through the University of California at Los Angeles.
1960 - The SPIE Newsletter publishes its first group of technical papers. The SPIE Sustaining Membership category is created. First Honorary Membership awarded to Lewis Larmore.
1961 - Membership in SPIE reaches 1,000. George W. Goddard Award is established to recognize exceptional achievement in optical or photonic instrumentation for aerospace, atmospheric science, or astronomy.
1962 - The official Society of Photographic Instrumentation Engineers Journal is launched with an October/November issue.
1963 - SPIE holds its first technical seminar-type conference and publishes its first official proceedings, on image enhancement.
1964 - The Journal is renamed the Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers Journal to reflect the Society's formal name change to the "Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers."
1965 - The SPIE Newsletter name is changed to SPIE-GLASS. The number of national SPIE Chapters reaches 15.
1966 - President's Award is established to recognize meritorious service of outstanding benefit to the Society. Award is given by the President and the Board of Directors. SPIE holds four technical conferences.
1967 - Demand for technical conferences continues to grow; SPIE meets demand by offering 4 more technical conferences and supporting Proceedings. SPIE income reaches $50,000.
1968 - Physical Optics Notebook, by Parrent and Thompson, is published.
1969 - Membership reaches 1,200 and Sustaining Membership reaches 50. SPIE holds five technical conferences. Joseph Yaver is hired as Executive Director.
1970 - Journal name changed to Journal SPIE, and SPIE-GLASS is included in Journal. Tabletop Exhiborama is established as SPIE hallmark at the Fiber Optics meeting in Dallas, Texas. SPIE produces its first meeting in Japan.
1971 - Journal name changed to Journal of the Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Albert M. Pezzuto Award is established to recognize a currently serving or former national officer or director who has given exceptional service to the Society. SPIE holds six technical conferences.
1972 - The SPIE Journal name changes to Optical Engineering. The 100th Sustaining Member enrolls in SPIE. SPIE holds eight technical conferences.
1973 - National Headquarters moves from Redondo Beach to Palos Verdes, California. SPIE holds 11 technical conferences.
1974 - Rudolf Kingslake Medal and Prize is established for recognition of the most noteworthy paper to appear in Optical Engineering. SPIE holds 10 technical conferences.
1975 - The Society becomes financially viable with income reaching $500,000. SPIE holds 16 technical conferences. SPIE presents author manuscript kit at all its conferences.
1976 - SPIE holds 27 technical conferences. SPIE celebrates its 20th Anniversary with Brigadier General George W. Goddard and Rudolf Kingslake being honored guests.
1977 - The Gold Medal of the Society Award is established to recognize outstanding engineering or scientific accomplishments in optics, electro-optics, or photographic technologies or applications. The Society Headquarters is moved to Bellingham, Washington. SPIE income reaches $1,000,000. Membership is 2,000. The 100th Proceedings Volume is published.
1978 - Educational Fund established to foster educational activities in optical engineering. SPIE holds 36 technical conferences.
1979 - Proceedings Volume 200 is published. The SPIE Technology Achievement Award is established to recognize outstanding accomplishments in optical, electro-optical, or photonics engineering technologies. SPIE holds 46 technical conferences. The Society establishes its first European office.
1980 - Membership reaches 3,000. SPIE Headquarters reaches 30 full-time employees. The Society purchases land in Bellingham, Washington, for future construction of International Headquarters. The number of technical papers doubles in the SPIE Journal, Optical Engineering.
1981 - To reflect its rapidly changing Membership and fast-paced technology, the Society name is officially defined as SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering. The Society celebrates its 25th Anniversary in San Diego, California, with a record 21 technical conferences, 160 instrument displays, and 18 tutorials. SPIE reaches milestones of 4,000 Members and 5,000 exhibitors. Over 10,000 papers are published in SPIE Proceedings and Optical Engineering. Over 150,000 copies of SPIE Proceedings and Journals are distributed.
1982 - SPIE is appointed International Secretariat for the 15th International Congress on High-Speed Photography and Photonics. SPIE holds five major symposia.
1983 - The First International Technical Symposium (Geneva, Switzerland) has 1,300 attendees from 26 countries. Due to demand in various technical areas, new Technical Working Groups are formed. The Dennis Gabor Award is established to recognize outstanding inventive accomplishments in optical systems. International Headquarters is officially dedicated in Bellingham, Washington.
1984 - OE Reports is launched to provide monthly news and commentary for the optical engineering community. Membership reaches 5,000. Optical Engineering circulation exceeds 7,000. The total number of Proceedings Volumes distributed since their inception reaches 200,000. SPIE holds more than 70 conferences worldwide.
1985 - Optics Education, the first survey of graduate and undergraduate programs in optics and optoelectronics, is published. SPIE and the ANRT-Association Nationale de la Recherchâ Technique, co-organize a three-year European conference series.
1986 - Two new symposia are introduced, OE/LASE in Los Angeles and Technical Symposium Southeast in Orlando. The Society celebrates its 30th Anniversary in San Diego, California.
1987 - The Society expands its presence in Europe with additional chapters, events, and meetings. An agreement is reached with the European Physical Society and Europtica Services I. C. to cosponsor a series of International Congresses for the next four years.
1988 - SPIE establishes the SPIE Optical Engineering Press to provide a framework for its special scholarly publications.
1989 - OE Reports circulation exceeds 70,000. SPIE boasts 200 Sustaining Members. SPIE publishes its first Tutorial Text. The Harold E. Edgerton Award is given for the first time. Membership reaches 10,000.
1990 - The Society establishes an SPIE Soviet Union Chapter, making it the first United States-based scientific and engineering society to open a chapter in the then-U.S.S.R. SPIE also establishes Chapters in Poland and Hungary. International Headquarters expansion is completed in September.
1991 - Representatives of SPIE and the newly formed European Optical Society (EOS) sign the EUROPTO joint venture agreement, improving international collaboration in organizing optics events in Europe. The SPIE Annual Index of Proceedings Papers, the Society's first such publication, is introduced in May.
1992 - SPIE develops its first fully operational Internet site with plans for a complete online services expansion. The quarterly Journal of Electronic Imaging debuts, co-published by SPIE and IS&T.
1993 - After 24 years as Executive Director of SPIE, Joe Yaver announces his retirement. Jim Pearson is appointed new Executive Director. SPIE Press publishes The Infrared & Electro-Optical Systems Handbook. A Proceedings milestone is reached when the Society publishes its 2,000th Volume. SPIE cosponsors the first Symposium on Coupling Technology to National Need in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
1994 - SPIE offers its first-ever CD-ROM Proceedings at the Electronic Imaging Symposium. spie.org makes its debut. The Photonics East symposium is inaugurated. SPIE opens a satellite office in Bergen, Norway. Continuing Education Units are offered for short courses at the AeroSense Symposium in Orlando, Florida.
1995 - SPIE celebrates its 40th anniversary. Photonics West debuts in San Jose, California. Co-located with the Photonics West Event is the SPIE/IS&T Electronic Imaging Event. SPIE cosponsors Photomask in Kawasaki City, Japan, with SPIE Japan and BACUS. SPIE and COEMA cosponsor the International Sensors Application and Electronic Components Exhibition in Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.
1996 - The Journal of Biomedical Optics is introduced and publishes four quarterly issues. The Photonics Resource Center on the World Wide Web (optics.org) is launched. SPIE and OSA cooperate to lead the formation of the Coalition for Photonics and Optics.
1997 - Photonics West is a huge success with over 10,000 attendees and 415 exhibitors. Membership reaches all-time high with over 13,500 Individual Members and 317 Corporate Members. The number of SPIE Regional Chapters reaches a high of 21 in over 17 different countries. SPIE Journals from 1996 are available for the first time on a single, searchable, readable, and printable CD-Rom. The SPIE Women in Optics Technical Community is formed.
1998 - SPIE introduces the first CD-ROM short course at the 1998 Photonics West Event. SPIE Journals become available online. The Society starts the year with over 13,750 Members. Members nominate 21 new Fellows to the Society.
1999 - After more than 5 years as Executive Director of SPIE, Jim Pearson resigns. Eugene G. Arthurs is appointed Executive Director. SPIE Membership continues to grow and reaches an all-time high with 14,338 individual members.
2000 - SPIE launches Optical Networks Magazine covering the technologies, architectures, services, and applications in the field of optical telecommunications and networking systems. The SPIE Scholarship Committee awards over $220,000 in Scholarships and Grants. SPIE Member Zhores I. Alferov wins the Nobel Prize in Physics for his role in developing semiconductor heterostructures used in high-speed optoelectronics.
2001 - In January, oemagazine launches. This new Member publication focuses on optics, photonics, and Society happenings. The SPIE European Satellite office opens in Cardiff, United Kingdom, with Karin Burger as Manager.
2002 - The SPIE Journal of Microlithography, Microfabrication, and Microsystems (JM3) debuts in March. MySPIE offers Authors, Chairs, Committee Members, and other constituents a web-based manuscript submission program to give these audiences better support.
2003 - SPIE Digital Library is launched, offering 70,000 full-text papers from SPIE Journals and Conference Proceedings. SPIE and OSA secure a $1.7 million NSF grant that will actively involve students, parents, teachers, school districts, and their greater communities in the areas of science and engineering. The SPIE Scholarship Committee awards over $200,000 in scholarships and grants to more than 80 individuals and educational or research institutions worldwide.
2004 - SPIE holds two new events to meet the demands of researchers and engineers: Optics East and Photonics Europe. The Society's largest-ever European astronomy event - Astronomical Telescopes - was held in Glasgow, Scotland, with over 2,000 attendees. SPIE Press introduces the Field Guide Series with four titles: Field Guide to Visual and Ophthalmic Optics; Field Guide to Adaptive Optics; Field Guide to Atmospheric Optics; Field Guide to Geometrical Optics. The SPIE Digital Library includes more than 120,000 technical papers from SPIE Journals and Conference Proceedings, including full coverage from 1998 to the present. The Society provides more than $700,000 in scholarships, grants, and financial support to encourage scientific and technological education. SPIE Membership reaches an all-time high of 16,550 Members.
2005 - SPIE celebrates its 50th anniversary in San Diego, California in conjunction with the SPIE Optics and Photonics Symposium. The SPIE Digital Library is extended back to 1990 and surpasses 200,000 online papers. SPIE Europe and the SPIE Polish Chapter teamed up on new International Congress on Optics & Optoelectronics in Warsaw, Poland.
2006 - The SPIE Newsroom online magazine and SPIE Professional member magazine are launched. Two electronic journals, the Journal of Nanophotonics and the Journal of Applied Remote Sensing, are announced. Membership is over 17,000 and SPIE has 91 Student Chapters throughout the world. An all-time record number of 41,000 attended SPIE events. SPIE's APOC (Asia-Pacific Optical Communications) symposium was held for the first time outside of China in Korea, with co-sponsors OSK, KAPID and Gwangju City. And for the first time ever, SPIE sponsored a meeting in India: The Asia-Pacific Remote Sensing Symposium was held in Goa.
2007 - SPIE retires its DBA (The International Society for Optical Engineering) and determines that SPIE will be the name under which the Society continues to do business, continuing a long history of supporting an interdisciplinary approach to the science and application of light.
