Editor-in-Chief, Encyclopedia of Modern Optics Executive Director, Adjunct Professor of Physics Duke University	January 2005
	"I think that much of what we are doing right now would fall in the area of bio photonics, but we interact with Mechanical Engineers who are making optical tweezers, Electronic Engineers who are improving communications, Physicists who are looking at Quantum Information and atom optics."

Dr. Guenther received his undergraduate degree from Baylor University and his graduate degrees in Physics from University of Missouri. He has had research experience in Condensed Matter and Optical Physics.

For nine years he was active in Research Management as a Senior Executive in the Army, responsible for the Physics Research sponsored by the Army. In that role he managed a program of about $20M/year involving about 100 individual projects. He also served as a senior advisor to the Army on a variety of issues such as electric gun technology, high energy lasers, and automatic target recognition.

From June 1997 through May 1999, he held the position of Interim Director of the Duke Free Electron Laser Laboratory. Dr. Guenther has established a new undergraduate education program at Duke in cooperation with Industry entitled Applied Science which began in the Fall of 2000. Dr. Guenther now holds the position of Executive Director at the newly created Fitzpatrick Center for Photonics and Communication Systems at Duke University.

What was it that first got you interested in the field of Optics?
The passing of the Massfield amendment in about 1971 meant that I had to do something of interest to my employer, the Army Missile Command. Optics looked like something I would enjoy and I could make a case for its importance to my employer.

What are the outstanding developments in Optics that you have seen over your career?
The laser, liquid crystal displays, cd players, fiber communications, laser rangefinders and lasers in the construction industry. There are more because the list is very long. I graduated with my undergraduate degree in 1960 when the growth began and it has not stopped yet. Now we are seeing major changes in biology because of optics.

Did modern optics begin with the advent of the laser?
Yes
Were there any other great scientific breakthroughs that coincided with the introduction of the laser?
Yes, the integrated circuits and the explosion in computer power began at nearly the same time.

Do you know any of the key players in the development of the laser?
Yes
Are any of them included in the Encyclopedia of Modern Optics?
Most of them are included. At least all that would agree to write. Some turned us down.

Has Modern Optics become a truly interdisciplinary field?
Yes
I see that your current work involves high speed computing and material scientists. Can you tell me a bit about how your research is tied into and dependant upon other fields?
I think that much of what we are doing right now would fall in the area of bio photonics but we interact with Mechanical Engineers who are making optical tweezers, Electronic Engineers who are improving communications, Physicists who are looking at Quantum Information and atom optics. The list is long.

How did you come to get involved with the Encyclopedia?
Right before 2000, Alan Miller asked if I would help he and his friends who were having trouble getting a project off the ground. I traveled to London right after the new year (2000). At that meeting we found the reason for the logjam and the project started. I was asked to be editor-in-chief at that time.

How is your work in nanophotonics related to modern optics?
I don’t do much in the way of nanophotonics. We do have some interest in the use of quantum dots as detectors but we depend on others to make the dots for us.
Is the study of nanophotonics represented in the MRW?
Yes

In such a vast field, how did you go about selecting which areas of Modern Optics would be covered in the Encyclopedia?
That was really the role of the main editors (along with the editorial advisors). We picked the topical areas and the topical editors who selected the articles and the authors.
Or, did you attempt to cover all aspects of the field?
We think we covered the entire field but I am sure we missed something. At this time I don’t know what it is or it would have been included.

Can you tell me a bit about the editorial board for this MRW?
I believe the editorial board is a list of the major players at the cutting edge of optical science.

What do you think will be the benefit of this work to the field of Modern Optics?
It has already impacted medicine, communications, manufacturing and the execution of other sciences.

What do you think people will find fascinating and/or exceptional about this work?
What I found interesting were articles in areas that I knew nothing about. For example the article on counterfeiting and the article on holographic art. The neat part of exploring this work is discovering new things.

Who is the Encyclopedia intended for? Undergraduates, Graduate Students, or highly specialized researchers?
It is a resource for all students, no matter what their level of expertise. Some of the articles will require a great deal of prior knowledge but we attempted to include some articles that could be read for fun.

Where do you see the study of Optics going in the next ten years?
I am not prescient. I view the future as you do with wonder.

I see that you have been working with lasers to study ultra fast phenomena – are your studies entering the realm of quantum physics?
I had some hope that I would see quantum effects but instead everything so far can be handled by fairly simple concepts.

Can you tell me a about some of your greatest scientific discoveries?
My discoveries have only made incremental increases in the overall knowledge but I had fun making those discoveries.
Your patents? Most of my patents have had to do with missiles though recently I have been working with undergraduates who have been inventing some interesting things like a novel Braille reader. However it had no optics in it.

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Phone:(919) 660-2569
Email:bob.guenther@duke.edu
http://www.fitzpatrick.duke.edu/AboutCenter/faculty/about_guenther.html

This article by Joe Martis
j.p.martis@elsevier.com