James C. Wyant, a pioneering optical scientist and University of Arizona professor instrumental in expanding the UAβs famed optics school, died Dec. 8 in Tucson from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Wyant, 80, was founding dean of the UA College of Optical Sciences and co-founded two local optics companies after inventing a computerized optical system for high-precision surface measurements.
The Wyant family and the UA Wyant College of Optical Sciences will host a celebration of life for Wyant at the college at 3 p.m. Feb. 9, 2024. For more details, visit the collegeβs website at optics.arizona.edu.
"Jim was a giant in the field of optical sciences," said University of Arizona President Robert C. Robbins. "His vision and leadership dating back to the college's early years set the stage for what has become a world-renowned engine of innovation and knowledge transfer, as well as an essential training ground for the best and brightest students.β
"Jim's commitment to the success of the college and to the field of optics was nothing short of astonishing," said Thomas L. Koch, dean and professor in the Wyant College of Optical Sciences. "His academic leadership and philanthropic investments ensured that we would continue to grow, and recruit and support the best students and facultyΒ β attracting the top people from around the world to make advances in optics that will improve our lives in unimaginable ways."
A native of Ohio, Wyant received a bachelorβs degree in physics in 1965 from the Case Institute of Technology, now Case Western Reserve University, in Cleveland.
After earning a masterβs degree and doctorate in optical sciences from the University of Rochester's Institute of Optics in 1969, Wyant worked for the optics firm Itek Corp. in Boston.
Wyant joined the UA faculty in 1974 as an assistant professor for the Optical Sciences Center and reached full professor by 1979.
In 1982, he co-founded WYKO Corp. in Tucson to commercialize his invention of computerized interferometer for high precision measurements of the roughness and shape of surfaces, while continuing to teach part-time at the UA.
Applications include precision mirrors, magnetic storage tape and recording heads of hard disk drives. New York-based Veeco Instruments acquired WYKO in 1997 in a stock deal worth $86 million.
Wyant also co-founded Tucson-based 4D Technology Corp. in 2002 and served on the boards of directors of other successful optics companies.
John B. Hayes worked with Wyant at WYKO and collaborated in the establishment of 4D Technology, after taking optics classes he taught.
"He was my Ph.D. advisor, my boss, my business partner, my mentor and ultimately my friend," Hayes said. "We spent over 40 years working together, and looking back, I realize that no one influenced the course of my adult life more or set higher standards for me than Jim Wyant."
Wyant returned to full-time teaching after the sale of WYKO and in 1999, he became the director of the UAβs Optical Sciences Center and led its transition to a college in 2005 as the founding dean.
Wyant oversaw tremendous growth in research, as well as the expansion of the Meinel Optical Sciences building, which added 47,000 square feet of state-of-the-art teaching and research space.
Wyant retired from the UA in 2013 but remained active as a professor emeritus. Throughout his teaching career at the UA, he graduated 34 doctoral students and 25 masterβs students, many of whom have gone on to be leaders in their fields.
Philanthropically, the Wyant family gave more than $32 million in support of optical sciences faculty and students. In 2013, they gifted $10 million for graduate student scholarships in a matching campaign.
In 2018, the family pledged $20 million in support for new endowed faculty positions, the largest gift for endowed faculty chair positions in the university's history. With the matching gifts from collaborating donors, and an additional $1 million in funding from the Wyant family, the endowed chair campaign netted $28 million, ensuring support for 14 endowed faculty positions for Wyant College.
In 2019, the University of Arizona renamed the college the James C. Wyant College of Optical SciencesΒ β a decision made in recognition of Wyant's role as founding dean, his dedication to inspire through teaching, his pioneering innovations in optics and photonics and his deeply generous philanthropy to enable education in optics, the UA said.
"Jim genuinely cared about people, which is why I believe he focused his philanthropy on students and faculty, the lifeblood of the college," said John-Paul Roczniak, president and CEO of the University of Arizona Foundation.
Wyant received many academic and industry accolades, including the Eller College of Management Entrepreneurial Fellowship, Arizona's "Innovator of the Year" Product Award, the Tom Brown Excellence in Entrepreneurship Award, and the University of Arizona Technology Innovation Award.
A member of the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Inventors, Wyant has also served as president of the Optical Society of America (now known as Optica) and SPIE (Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers), the two major international professional societies in optics. Recognitions for his technical work included awards, such as the OSA (Optica) Joseph Fraunhofer Award in 1992, the SPIE Gold Medal, and the SPIE Technology Achievement Award.
He was a five-time recipient of R&D Magazine's R&D 100 Award, as well as a five-time recipient of Laurin Publishing's Photonics Circle of Excellence Award for optical products.
In 2019, Wyant received the SPIE Visionary Award, a highly valued honor that recognizes individualβs lifetime work, and in 2022 he received Optica's most esteemed award, the Frederic Ives Medal and Jarus W. Quinn Prize.
James Wyant, founding dean of the University of Arizona's College of Optical Sciences, talks about the program's impact in a 2014 video.
