Welcome to the first issue of the Photonics Society Newsletter! I think that we will quickly get used to this new name, as it clearly identifies our field to both members and the outside community. To commemorate the change, we present a reprint of a 1992 article in IEEE Spectrum aptly titled “Switching to Photonics” by LEOS Past President Prof. Scott Hinton. The term Photonics began to be widely used at that time. Now that both the name and the technology are used throughout the world, Scott has written a column to accompany the article, reviewing how the field has evolved since he first wrote it. We also have a contribution from Prof. Silvano Donati, a longtime member of the Society Board of Governors, about his work as a Distinguished Lecturer. As part of our ongoing series of columns by Society Leaders, Past President Robert Byer has written about Celebrating Fifty Years of Quantum Electronics, which is particularly appropriate during this 125th anniversary of IEEE. Our Society and its members have been a big part of IEEE and will undoubtedly continue to play prominent roles going forward. Membership highlights include activities in the Benelux chapter, summarized nicely by past and current student chapter presidents Philippe Tassin and Milan Marell. We also have a preview of the NUSOD conference to be held in South Korea in September.
As always, please send any comments and suggestions to k.parameswaran@ieee.org. Feel free to contact me or the other editors about promoting upcoming events or summarizing past activities. The Newsletter is your best vehicle for sharing your information with all Photonics Society members!

Regards,
Krishnan Parameswaran

Correction:
On pages 9 and 10 of the February 2009 Newsletter, ­References numbered 13–43 should be numbered 14–44, and the paper above reference 13 should be numbered 13. The online version has been corrected. We apologize for the typesetting error.