Applied Physics Faculty Member Tony Heinz Wins Prestigious Award

Applied Physics Professor and Director of Graduate Studies Tony Heinz was selected as the 2026 recipient of Optica’s Frederic Ives Medal/Jarus W. Quinn Prize in February.

Recognizing overall distinction in optics, the Frederic Ives Medal is the highest award of the Optica society. “Tony Heinz’s groundbreaking research opened a new branch of optics, helping us to understand surfaces, interfaces, and nanoscale materials,” said Gisele Bennett, Optica's 2026 President. “But his impact has reached even farther through his visionary leadership, mentorship, and service to the optics community. It is an honor to celebrate his lasting contributions to our field.”

Professor Heinz has made seminal contributions to the understanding of surfaces, interfaces, and nanoscale materials through the development and creative application of spectroscopic techniques. His early contributions to optical second‐harmonic generation helped to launch this sensitive method for probing surfaces and interfaces. In the following years, Heinz has been a world leader in applying optical techniques to reveal the unique electronic and excited-state properties of 1D and 2D materials, such as carbon nanotubes, graphene, and 2D semiconductors. 

The Ives was endowed in 1928 by Herbert E. Ives, a distinguished charter member and Society President, 1924 and 1925, to honor his father who was noted as the inventor of modern photoengraving and for his pioneering contributions to color photography, three-color process printing, and other branches of applied optics. The prize is funded by the Jarus W. Quinn Medal Endowment, raised by members at the time of Jarus’s retirement in recognition of his 25 years of service as the Society's first Executive Director. Read more about this honor here, and please join us in congratulating Professor Heinz.