This is my final Photonics Focus presidential letter to you. It has been an honor and pleasure to serve as SPIE President. This has not been the year that I had expected, but this has not been the year that any of us expected. I have heard 2020 described as a year of disappointment, but it has also been a year of tragedy for some of you-you have our deepest condolences. It has also been a year of crisis for organizations and businesses. However, when I look back on this year for SPIE, a single word comes to mind—"proud."
I am incredibly proud of our SPIE staff for the quick pivot from in-person meetings to digital forums. While this work has gotten most of the attention, I am equally proud of our SPIE staff who kept the other Society activities going—publications, communications, education, community outreach, awards, etc.—all while working remotely.
I am proud of our Society, because as a service to our community, we offered the SPIE digital forums free of charge for both authors and attendees. This enabled numerous first-time SPIE attendees to participate.
I am proud of all of the authors and presenters who went through the extra effort of recording and uploading their work to provide the content for the SPIE digital forums.
I am proud of our exhibitors who participated in the virtual exhibitions associated with the SPIE digital forums and provided content and product demonstrations.
I am proud of all of the attendees and participants in the SPIE digital forums. More people registered for the digital forums than would have attended in person.
I am proud of our volunteers—our conference chairs and committees that migrated their programs into digital forums; our journal editors and reviewers who kept valuable scholarly information flowing; and our leadership committee members, who kept the important work of the Society on track.
I am proud of our SPIE award winners who could not receive their awards at the annual awards banquet, but recorded their acceptance speeches for the SPIE Virtual Awards Banquet. You really should see them!
I am proud of the entire optics and photonics community for moving forward and remaining a community during this unprecedented year. We did not and will not allow COVID-19 to stop us. The desire to get back to in-person meetings and events grows stronger every day.
On 1 January 2021, David Andrews from the University of East Anglia will become SPIE President, and my presidential year will end. It will be my time to step down, and I will step down—proud!
Thank you for this honor,
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John E. Greivenkamp 2020 SPIE President |
