Joseph and Honmai Goodman establish a distinguished professorship of optics as part of the Wyant Challenge

Their generosity will drive scientific discovery, expand technological innovation, and help grow the Institute of Optics faculty by 50 percent within a decade.

Joe and Honmai Goodman

Optical physicist Joseph “Joe” Goodman and his wife, Honmai, have established a new endowed fund, the Joseph W. and Honmai Goodman Distinguished Professorship of Optics at the University of Rochester’s Institute of Optics. Their generous $800,000 gift is being matched by $1.2 million from the Wyant Challenge, amplifying its impact. This investment will strengthen the institute, support world-class faculty, and help meet the growing demand for trained optics graduates who will help drive advances in manufacturing, defense and aerospace, healthcare and medicine, communications and information technology, and other areas.

Established in 2022 through a $12 million gift from the late optics pioneer James C. Wyant ’69 (PhD), trustee emeritus, and his wife, Tammy, the Wyant Challenge is transforming the Institute of Optics. As the largest gift in its history, funds from the challenge and matching gifts, including the Goodmans’ contribution, will increase the number of full-time faculty at the institute from 20 to 30 over the next decade. The anticipated matching gifts will account for an additional $8 million, bringing the total impact of the challenge to $20 million.

This funding will ultimately support 10 endowed professorships—five for distinguished faculty and five for early-career scholars—along with a visiting professorship and a staff position. This growth will support the institute as it plans for its 100th anniversary in 2029. To date, four distinguished professorships and two early career professorships have been funded through the challenge, generating an additional $4.4 million in new donor funds.

“We are grateful to Joe and Honmai for their vision and generosity,” says Wendi Heinzelman, dean of the Hajim School of Engineering & Applied Sciences. “Their gift will strengthen our ability to recruit and retain top-tier faculty, ensuring that exceptional scholars have the resources to further discovery, mentor future optics leaders, and develop innovations that will benefit society.”

“I’ve dedicated my career to optics, and it’s important to Honmai and me to give back to the field as a way to recognize all it has done for us,” says Joe. “That’s why we’re excited about supporting faculty at the University of Rochester’s renowned Institute of Optics. We are confident that they will continue to push the boundaries of optics research, education, and innovation far into the future.”

Jim Fienup, the Robert E. Hopkins Professor of Optics at Rochester, was one of Joe’s PhD advisees at Stanford. Fienup understands firsthand the significance of this kind of support. “Receiving an endowed professorship at the University’s Institute of Optics played a pivotal role in my decision to join its faculty,” he says. “The Goodmans’ gift will help attract top scientists who might otherwise go elsewhere, strengthening the institute, the University, and the broader Rochester community.”

Fienup adds, “Joe profoundly influenced many lives and careers, including mine. His problem-solving approach and structured thinking continue to shape how I work today. His first book, Introduction to Fourier Optics, is widely regarded as the best in our field—clear, exceptionally well-organized, and a model for communicating complex ideas. When I began teaching, I based some of my courses around his books. Even now, in my broader professional approach, I often ask myself, ‘What would Joe do?’ His influence continues to guide my work and will support many others into the future.”

“Professor Goodman, through his books and scholarly contributions, has had a significant impact on me both during my graduate student days and throughout my optics career,” says Tom Brown, the director of the Institute of Optics and the Mercer Brugler Distinguished Teaching Professor. “It is gratifying to see our current students still benefiting enormously from his contributions. Like his scholarly work, this gift represents an investment that will have an impact on them and our alumni for many decades.”

Brown adds that the Goodmans’ gift comes at a crucial time when demand for trained experts in optics continues to increase. “We are honored that the Goodmans are helping us shape the future of optics, and we are grateful to the Wyants for creating a fund that makes it possible for others to establish these professorships,” he says.

About the Goodmans

Joe is a highly regarded optical physicist recognized for his pioneering contributions to Fourier optics and optical information processing. He earned his AB in engineering and applied physics from Harvard University and his MS and PhD in electrical engineering from Stanford University. Joe joined Stanford’s faculty in 1967, later serving as chair of the electrical engineering department and senior associate dean of engineering.

Joe’s influential research spans holography, digital image processing, statistical optics, and speckle phenomena. He has authored several foundational textbooks, including Introduction to Fourier Optics. A leader in the optics community, Joe served as president of Optica (OSA), where he remains an honorary member. He has also held key roles in SPIE and IEEE. His contributions have been recognized with numerous honors, including election to the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Additionally, he has served as editor of the Journal of the Optical Society of America and given lectures internationally, including at the University of Rochester. Joe has authored eight books, with a ninth pending.

Honmai was born in Macao and came to the US to attend Clarke College in Dubuque, Iowa. After earning her bachelor’s degree, she completed a dietetic internship at Stanford University Hospital and worked there as a dietitian until she and Joe married.

Since retiring in 2001, Joe has focused on writing and philanthropy through his and Honmai’s J.W. and H.M. Goodman Family Charitable Foundation, which supports the arts, education, the environment, and human services. In 2005, they endowed the Goodman Book Writing Award, recognizing influential works in optics and photonics, cosponsored by Optica and SPIE. They have also established professorships at the University of Arizona and Stanford.