Meadowlark Optics, Inc. today announced Tom Baur, Founder, and the International Society for Optics and Photonics (SPIE) have created the first endowed faculty chair at JILA. The Baur-SPIE Endowed Chair in Optics and Photonics will be funded by gifts of $1.5 million from Tom and Jeanne Baur, $500,000 from SPIE, and another $500,000 from CU Boulder.

Education and learning have always been a key focus for Tom and Jeanne, whether in the classroom or at the company Tom founded, Meadowlark Optics. Tom’s passion for optics started while employed at the High Altitude Observatory, a division of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder. He spent 13 years there as an Observational Astronomer after graduating from the University of Michigan and then with a master’s degree in Astro-Geophysics in 1969 from CU Boulder.

Meadowlark has benefited from its relationships with JILA and CU Boulder through joint research
projects and the ability to recruit highly skilled graduates to the company. Tom has a great deal of respect for the optical research community at JILA and wants to see the program continue to be a leading research institution. By providing this gift for a faculty chair, the $2.5 million fund will enable JILA to expand its research and education capacity in optical physics and photonics.

“It is essential to the photonics industry that technology and innovation be led by JILA and other
institutions,” said Garry Gorsuch, President of Meadowlark Optics. “This effort will help industry through the focused attention an endowed chair provides.”