COL. SHOOP EARNS 2008 OSA LEADERSHIP AWARD – April 28, 2008

            WEST POINT, N.Y. – Colonel Barry L. Shoop, the new Deputy Head of the U.S. Military Academy’s Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department, was named the recipient of the 2008 Optical Society of America Leadership Award-New Focus/Bookham Prize, which recognizes an individual or group of optic professionals who has made a significant impact on the field of optics and/or made a significant contribution to society.

Shoop is being awarded the OSA Leadership Award-New Focus/Bookham Prize for his leadership and vision in furthering optics education and humanitarian purposes, including founding the first engineering school in Afghanistan and his contribution to the global fight against terrorism, as expressed in his activities in the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization.

The OSA is the world’s premier professional society for engineers, scientists, educators, technicians and business leaders in optics and photonics.

Shoop is a Signal Corps officer and an Academy Professor serving as the Electrical Engineering Program Director in EE&CS.

The OSA Leadership Award/New Focus Prize was established in 1997 with the support of Milton Chang and New Focus, Inc., to strengthen the link between the optics community and the public. The award recognizes: 1) An individual or group of optics professionals whose actions or policy outside the technology arena has made a significant contribution to society; this contribution may be social, economic, political or humanitarian; or 2) An individual or group whose action, policy or support has made a significant impact on the field of optics. Either a single contribution or a cumulative record of achievements may be recognized.