Warren J. Smith

Fellows Profile By Tom Godfrey, OSSC Historian
Warren J. Smith
Warren Smith is world-renowned in the optics community as author of two editions of "Modern Optical Engineering - The Design of Optical Systems", "Modern Lens Design - A Resource Manual" and "Practical Optical Systems Layout". He was a Founder and President of the Chicago Section of the Optical Society of America (OSA); a Director of the Optical Society of Southern California (OSSC); National President of OSA in 1980; and National President of the SPIE in 1983. He is a Fellow of both OSA and SPIE, and also OSSC. He teaches optics courses for the University of Wisconsin, SPIE, OSA, and various companies and government agencies at worldwide locations. Warren J. Smith was born in Rochester, New York on August 17, 1922. In high school he and George Matter, also an OSSC Fellow, took a physics course which got both men interested in optics. That class, plus his interest in photography caused Warren to enroll in the Institute of Optics at the University of Rochester. He worked part-time for Bausch & Lomb during school. After graduation, Warren worked two years for Kodak helping run the labs at Oakridge, Tennessee. Mr. Smith was Chief Optical Engineer for Simpson Optical Company in Chicago from 1946 to 1959, where he worked with Ed Bickel and Pete Vandehaye. Then he came to Raytheon in Santa Barbara, California as Manager of the Optics Section of the Infrared Department. Warren was Director, then Vice-President of R&D at Infrared Industries, later known as Santa Barbara Applied Optics, from 1962 to 1987, with Dick Brown, and Lowell Baskins and again with Ed Bickel. While at IR Industries, Warren wrote a couple of chapters of the Handbook of Military Infrared Technology, which later became the IR Handbook. Since then, he has published numerous articles on optics and optical design; has edited many SPIE Proceedings Volumes; and co-edited McGraw Hill's Optical and Electro-Optical Engineering Series of books. He also has written chapters for four other handbooks: the Handbook of Optics; the Handbook of IR Technology; Mechanical Engineers Systems Handbook; and a SPIE Handbook on IR Optics. Warren has chaired innumerable conferences on optical design and related subjects for SPIE and the OSA. Since 1987 Warren Smith has been Chief Scientist at Kaiser Electro Optics in Carlsbad, California. He is now only part-time at Kaiser, due to the demands of consulting, teaching, and expert witnessing, and writing the 3rd edition of his book "Modern Optical Engineering". Warren J. Smith lives in Vista, California with his wife Mary Helen Smith. They were married in 1944, and have two grown children: David in Murietta; and Barbara Samaniego in the Bay Area. The Smiths also have two grandsons and a granddaughter.
Return

Fellows Profile
By Tom Godfrey, OSSC Historian

Warren J. Smith

Warren Smith is world-renowned in the optics community as author of two editions of "Modern Optical Engineering - The Design of Optical Systems", "Modern Lens Design - A Resource Manual" and "Practical Optical Systems Layout". He was a Founder and President of the Chicago Section of the Optical Society of America (OSA); a Director of the Optical Society of Southern California (OSSC); National President of OSA in 1980; and National President of the SPIE in 1983. He is a Fellow of both OSA and SPIE, and also OSSC. He teaches optics courses for the University of Wisconsin, SPIE, OSA, and various companies and government agencies at worldwide locations.

Warren J. Smith was born in Rochester, New York on August 17, 1922. In high school he and George Matter, also an OSSC Fellow, took a physics course which got both men interested in optics. That class, plus his interest in photography caused Warren to enroll in the Institute of Optics at the University of Rochester. He worked part-time for Bausch & Lomb during school. After graduation, Warren worked two years for Kodak helping run the labs at Oakridge, Tennessee.

Mr. Smith was Chief Optical Engineer for Simpson Optical Company in Chicago from 1946 to 1959, where he worked with Ed Bickel and Pete Vandehaye. Then he came to Raytheon in Santa Barbara, California as Manager of the Optics Section of the Infrared Department. Warren was Director, then Vice-President of R&D at Infrared Industries, later known as Santa Barbara Applied Optics, from 1962 to 1987, with Dick Brown, and Lowell Baskins and again with Ed Bickel.

While at IR Industries, Warren wrote a couple of chapters of the Handbook of Military Infrared Technology, which later became the IR Handbook. Since then, he has published numerous articles on optics and optical design; has edited many SPIE Proceedings Volumes; and co-edited McGraw Hill's Optical and Electro-Optical Engineering Series of books. He also has written chapters for four other handbooks: the Handbook of Optics; the Handbook of IR Technology; Mechanical Engineers Systems Handbook; and a SPIE Handbook on IR Optics. Warren has chaired innumerable conferences on optical design and related subjects for SPIE and the OSA.

Since 1987 Warren Smith has been Chief Scientist at Kaiser Electro Optics in Carlsbad, California. He is now only part-time at Kaiser, due to the demands of consulting, teaching, and expert witnessing, and writing the 3rd edition of his book "Modern Optical Engineering".

Warren J. Smith lives in Vista, California with his wife Mary Helen Smith. They were married in 1944, and have two grown children: David in Murietta; and Barbara Samaniego in the Bay Area. The Smiths also have two grandsons and a granddaughter.

Return