The John Tyndall Award is jointly sponsored by the IEEE Lasers and Electro-Optics Society and the Optical Society of America. The award is presented annually to a single individual who has made outstanding contributions in any area of optical-fiber technology, including optical fibers themselves, the optical components used in fiber systems, as well as transmission systems and networks using fibers. The contributions which the award recognizes should meet the test of time and should be of proven benefit to science, technology, or society. The contributions may be experimental or theoretical. This award Nominees need not be members of the sponsoring societies. Corning Inc. endorses the award which consists of a glass sculpture, a scroll, and an honorarium. The deadline for nominations is August 10.

Robert W. Tkach is Director of the Transmission Systems Research department at Bell Laboratories, Alcatel-Lucent, Crawford Hill Location. His research has involved dispersion management, optical amplification, optical networking, and high-speed DWDM transmission systems. Prior to joining Bell Laboratories, he has been: Chief Technical Officer of Celion Networks, Division Manager of the Lightwave Networks Research Division at AT&T Labs, and a Distinguished Member of Technical Staff at AT&T Bell Laboratories. He has served as Chair of the Optical Fiber Communications Conference (OFC) Steering Committee and on the IEEE LEOS Board of Governors. He has been General Co-Chair of OFC, Vice-President of the Optical Internetworking Forum, and Associate Editor of the Journal of Lightwave Technology. He has received the Thomas Alva Edison Patent Award from the Research and Development Council of New Jersey and is a Fellow of the Optical Society of America, the IEEE, and AT&T.