With $500,000 Grant to University of Arizona, SPIE Launches $2.5 Million Program
BELLINGHAM, Wash., Aug. 14, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, announces a $2.5 million, five-year, educational-funding initiative. The SPIE Endowment Matching Program will enhance educational capacity in optics and photonics by supporting endowment funding at qualified institutions. This program adds to the more than $4 million that SPIE devotes annually to community support, including scholarships, travel grants, and student programs. The program's first grant of $500,000 creates the SPIE Chair in Optical Sciences at the University of Arizona.
The new program will support optics-and-photonics-based education and the future of the industry by contributing up to $500,000 per award to college and university programs with optics and photonics degrees or other SPIE-mission-allied disciplines. The SPIE contribution to the University of Arizona, matched by a factor of three with funds donated by James C. Wyant and his family, names a $2-million-endowed faculty chair. SPIE encourages qualified institutions to establish future endowments with the Society, structuring funds to ensure perpetual or long-term availability for teaching and research.
"We partner with educators and universities to advance light-based research, technology, and applications for the betterment of the human condition," said SPIE CEO Kent Rochford. "As a not-for-profit educational charity, SPIE is uniquely positioned to devote resources that create a larger pipeline of scientists and engineers knowledgeable about optics."
"The proposal to fund an endowed chair generated a terrific reaction from the SPIE Board of Directors," said SPIE President Jim Oschmann. "We look forward to creating multiple new endowments with our colleagues at educational institutions across our community."
"SPIE has long been a vigorous supporter of the College," said Thomas Koch, dean of the James C. Wyant College of Optical Sciences at the University of Arizona. "Now we can generate even more talent to fuel innovations in optics and photonics."
For information about the SPIE Endowment Matching Program, visit www.spie.org/endowment.
About SPIE
SPIE is the international society for optics and photonics, an educational not-for-profit organization founded in 1955 to advance light-based science, engineering, and technology. The Society serves 257,000 constituents from 173 countries, offering conferences and their published proceedings, continuing education, books, journals, and the SPIE Digital Library. In 2018, SPIE provided more than $4 million in community support including scholarships and awards, outreach and advocacy programs, travel grants, public policy, and educational resources. www.spie.org.
Contact:
Daneet Steffens
Public Relations Manager
[email protected]
@SPIEtweets
SOURCE SPIE
Related Links
WANT YOUR COMPANY'S NEWS FEATURED ON PRNEWSWIRE.COM?
Newsrooms &
Influencers
Digital Media
Outlets
Journalists
Opted In
Share this article