Anthony M. Johnson

Born on 23 May 1954 in Brooklyn, New York, Anthony M. Johnson is an experimental physicist specializing in ultrafast optics and optoelectronics who became the first African American to serve as president of the Optical Society (OSA). Johnson earned his BS in physics from the Polytechnic Institute of New York in 1975 and his PhD in physics from City College of the City University of New York in 1981. He then worked 14 years at Bell Labs in Holmdel, New Jersey. From 1995 to 2003, Johnson served as chair and distinguished professor of the physics department at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Since 2003 he has been at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, serving as director of the Center for Advanced Studies in Photonics Research and holding joint faculty appointments as a professor in both the physics department and the computer science and electrical engineering department. Johnson has studied ultrashort laser pulse propagation in fibers and the propagation of light through semiconductors. Ultrashort laser pulses have found applications in such fields as homeland security, medicine, and telecommunications. Over his career, Johnson has worked to advance the science careers of minorities and women and has assumed leadership positions on committees promoting diversity for such organizations as OSA, the American Physical Society (APS), and the American Institute of Physics (which publishes Physics Today). In 1996 Johnson received APS’s Edward A. Bouchet Award. He is a fellow of OSA, APS, IEEE, AAAS, and the National Society of Black Physicists. Besides being elected president of OSA in 2002, he has served as editor-in-chief of OSA’s Optics Letters and on the OSA board of directors. Johnson has published nearly 80 scientific papers and holds four US patents. (Photo credit: AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives, Ronald E. Mickens Collection)

Date in History: 23 May 1954