Orestes Nicholas Stavroudis

Professor Orestes Nicholas Stavroudis died at the age of 90 years on January 18, 2014 in Guanajuato, Mexico. He was born in 1923 in New York, NY. He studied at Columbia University, where he meet his wife Dorle and obtained his bachelor’s and master’s degree in mathematics. Then, he traveled to London to pursue his P.h.D. degree in optics at the Imperial College of Science and Technology in 1959.

His first work after graduation was at the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) in the optical testing department. In 1967 he joined the University of Arizona, Optical Sciences Center, where he was one of the earliest professors. His interests in optics were related to the differential geometry of wave fronts, off axis telescopes, the K-function and many others.

After retiring from the Optical Sciences Center, Nick was very active in consulting for several institutions. After this, in March 1992, Nick joined the faculty of the Centro de Investigaciones en Optica in Leon, Gto. Mexico. There, he was very active, publishing and doing research, as well as supervising optics students.

Among his many publications were several monographs and three books: The Optics of Rays, Wave front and Caustics (Academic, 1972): Modular Optical Design (1982, Springer): and The Mathematics of Geometrical and Physical Optics: The K- Function and its Ramifications (Wiley-VCH, 2006).

He was a fellow of the Optical Society of America and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Nick also was a member of the mathematical Society of America and of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics. He also served as Editor Associate for the journal of the Optical Society of America.

Our friend Nick was a wonderful person and with an impeccable intellect, with ideal personality, It always was a pleasure to talk to him. I will greatly miss him.