Two professional societies, the Optical Society of America (OSA) and SPIE, have renamed their jointly sponsored congressional fellowship program the Arthur H. Guenther Congressional Fellowship Program to honor a former University of New Mexico professor who died earlier this year.
Photo: Art Guenther
Guenther was a research professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Center for High Technology Materials and held a joint appointment in Physics and Astronomy. Prior to his work at UNM Guenther was with the United States Air Force for 31 years. He also held positions at both Los Alamos and Sandia National Labs and served as a science advisor to the governor of New Mexico.
The OSA/SPIE Congressional Fellowships are designed to provide a unique public policy learning experience, demonstrate the value of science-government interaction and bring technical backgrounds and external perspectives to the decision making process in Congress. Fellows spend one year working as special legislative assistants on the staffs of members of Congress or congressional committees.
“Just as Art did, Congressional Fellows choose a unique path in their careers – one that combines an uncommon blend of scientific expertise and awareness of the public good,” said SPIE President Brian Culshaw. “This is clearly the path less traveled, one that requires enthusiasm, talent and courage to be successful. Art is a role model for the men and women who follow that path of scientific excellence and public service.”
Media Contact: Karen Wentworth, (505) 277-5627; e-mail: kwent2@unm.edu
Posted by scarr at June 21, 2007 04:52 PM