In memoriam: Yuri Denisyuk 1927-2006

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In memoriam: Yuri Denisyuk 1927-2006

Yuri Denisyuk with a holographic self-portrait.

On May 14, Yuri Denisyuk died peacefully in St. Petersburg, Russia. The loss to the optics community of this brilliant, humble, and generous man is immeasurable. Coming as it does less than six months after the death of his friend and colleague Emmett Leith, his death marks the end of an era. The two beloved founders of modern holography are gone and somehow the field they created and nurtured for over forty years must determine how it can honor them by continuing to thrive.

Professor, academician, and friend to all in his field, he was best known for the Denisyuk hologram -- the holograms that produce the wonderful, often-colored 3D images hovering just behind the plane of the hologram. His other contributions in the field of coherent optics and holography were also of great importance. During the last years of his life, he had turned his attention to optical logic, high density data storage and non-linear optics where he also made significant contributions.

Denisyuk began experiments in interference photography in 1958 andpublished his work in 1962 in the Soviet Union. But his research was not well received until the work of Leith and Upatnieks began togenerate excitementin the late sixties. In 1970 he was awarded the Lenin Prize and was elected a member of the Soviet Academy of Sciences.Denisyuk and Leith received the first Dennis Gabor Award from SPIE in 1983.

SPIE will honor him and Professor Leith with a special conference as part of the Optics and Photonics Symposium this summer in San Diego.

Conference program

Vladimir Markov, MetroLaser
H. John Caulfield, Diversified Research Corporation

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