Jean M. Bennett

Who was Jean M. Bennett?

Jean M. Bennett was the first female president of the Optical Society of America in 1986.

She died on July 18, 2008 in Ridgecrest, CA after a long illness. She was 78.

Bennett received her PhD in phyiscs from Pennsylvania State University in 1955, and spent most of her career at the Naval Weapons Center at China Lake, CA.

She received the SPIE Technology Achievement Award in 1983 for "the development of practical instrumentation for optical surface quality metrology, and for dedicated service and guidance to the optics industry."

She received the David Richardson Medal from the Optical Society of America in 1990, after serving as OSA president in 1986. In 1994 she was named a Distinguished Fellow of the Naval Weapons Center. In 1988 the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology established the Jean Bennett Award, given annually to a senior for excellence in optics.