James Fienup

James Ray Fienup (born April 17, 1948) is an American optical scientist and applied physicist. He is the Robert E. Hopkins Professor of Optics at the Institute of Optics of the University of Rochester, where he researches imaging science. Fienup was the editor-in-chief of the Journal of the Optical Society of America from 1998 to 2003.

Early life and education Fienup was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on April 17, 1948. After being educated at St. Louis University High School, he attended the College of the Holy Cross, where he graduated in 1970 with a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), magna cum laude, in physics and mathematics. Fienup then pursued graduate studies at Stanford University as a fellow for the National Science Foundation. His doctoral dissertation was titled, "Improved synthesis and computational methods for computer-generated holograms".

Career After serving as a research assistant at the Stanford Electronics Laboratories, Fienup became a senior scientist at the Environmental Research Institute of Michigan in July 1975. He remained there until June 2002, when he assumed a position at the University of Rochester as its Robert E. Hopkins Professor of Optics. He is also a member of the Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).