Honorary Members of the Coblentz Society

Call for Nominations

The Society’s By-Laws state the following with regards to Honorary Members: The Board of Management at its discretion, and by the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the Managers, may elect as Honorary Members of the Society individuals who are deemed to have made outstanding contributions to the field of vibrational spectroscopy or to any other field related to the purposes of the Society. Nominations are solicited for Honorary Membership in the Society for consideration in the next year. Please send nominations to office@coblentz.org.

2018 Honorary Member – Ian R. Lewis

The Coblentz Society is pleased to announce that Dr. Ian R. Lewis (Kaiser Optical Systems) has been named our newest Honorary Member. Based on Ian’s work for the Society, his expertise and contributions to the field of Raman spectroscopy, his work with the Society’s affiliate the Society for Applied Spectroscopy (SAS), with FACSS, and with the Society’s National Meeting, SciX presented by FACSS, Dr. Ian Lewis was selected for the award of Honorary Member. The Coblentz Society presented Dr. Ian Lewis with the award at SciX 2018 in Atlanta, GA.

Ian R. Lewis obtained his degree in Chemistry and Chemical Technology in 1989 and his Ph.D. in 1992. He was appointed Honorary Visiting Researcher at the University of Bradford (UK) in 1992 and moved to the University of Idaho to work with Professor Peter Griffiths in 1993. In 1996, he joined Kaiser Optical Systems as a Laser Spectroscopy Specialist where he is currently Director of Marketing and Product Management. He lives in Michigan with his wife Dr. Mary L. Lewis and their children.

Ian serves on the boards of several scientific organizations including FACSS and SAS as well as three editorial boards. He chairs the ASTM committee on Raman and was the 2019 Program Chair for the ICAVS meeting in Auckland, New Zealand.

Recognition of his achievements includes the 2008 Charles Mann Award in Analytical Raman Spectroscopy from FACSS, a Fellows Award from the Society for Applied Spectroscopy in 2011, and a Fellows Award from the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2017. He will also receive the Society for Applied Spectroscopy’s Distinguished Service Award at the 2018 SciX Conference.

Ian was elected to the Board of Managers of the Coblentz Society in 2004 and served from 2004 through 2008. From March 2009 to March 2011 he served as the President of the Society. During his time on the Board and as President, he worked to improve relationships between the Coblentz Society and other organizations, solidified and expanded the Coblentz Society’s involvement in conferences to meet the Coblentz Society’s mission of “promoting the understanding and application of vibration spectroscopy,” helped form both the Craver and Fateley Awards, authorized the development of (and participated in editing) a new Coblentz Society website, conducted a review of finances, managed development of funding sources in order to produce a balanced budget, promoted the process of using social media and partnerships to publicize the Society’s activities and awards, wrote the Coblentz Society’s first President’s Guide (what to do, when to do it, and how to do it – to facilitate transition between Presidents, officers, and committees), and restarted the Coblentz Society’s “Honorary Membership” award program. He currently serves the Society as its Treasurer.

Ian Lewis prior to assuming presidency of the Society

Ian Lewis today

Honorary Members of the Coblentz Society

1959 to 2015

Fran Adar, Horiba Scientific (2015)

John M. Chalmers, VS Consulting (2015)

*Charles H. Townes (2013)

*James W. Cooley (2013)

David M. Haaland, Sandia National Laboratories (2012)

Laurence A. Nafie, Syracuse University (2012)

D. Bruce Chase, University of Delaware/DuPont (2011)

Kathryn S. Kalasinsky, National Institutes of Health (2011)

David W. Schiering, Smiths Detection (2011)

Kathleen Dittman, Miami University of Ohio (2011)

Ira Levin, National Institutes of Health (2011)

Peter R. Griffiths, University of Idaho (2011)

James A. de Haseth, University of Georgia (2011)

*Dana Mayo, Bowdoin College (2011)

(* deceased)

Samuel Krimm, University of Michigan (1996)

James R. Durig, University of Missouri-Kansas City (1996)

*Robert W. Hannah, Perkin-Elmer Corp. (1992)

*Richard A. Nyquist, Dow Chemical Co. (1991)

*Clara D. Craver, Craver Chemical Consultants (1991)

John R. Ferraro, Argonne National Laboratory (1990)

A. Lee Smith, Dow Corning Corp. (1989)

*Gerhard Herzberg, National Research Council, Canada (1989)

Jeanette G. Grasselli, Ohio University (1989)

*Foil A. Miller, University of Pittsburgh (1988)

*Richard C. Lord, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1987)

*William G. Fateley, Kansas State University (1987)

*Norman Wright, Dow Chemical Co. (1976)

*William W. Coblentz, National Bureau of Standards (1959)