Prof. Govind P Agrawal
Award Year: 2000 | Degree Year: 1974
Prof. Govind P Agrawal was born on July 24, 1951, at Kashipur, UP. A gold medallist from the University of Lucknow in his Bachelor of Science, Prof. Agrawal received his M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Physics from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi in 1971 and 1974, respectively.
After holding various R&D positions at the Ecole-Polytechnique (France), the City University of New York, and the Laser Company, Quantel, France, Prof. Agrawal joined the technical staff of AT&T Bell Laboratories in 1981 where he worked on problems related to the development of semiconductor lasers and fiber-optic communication systems. In 1989, he joined the faculty of the Institute of Optics at the University of Rochester where he is currently a Professor of Optics. His research interests focus on quantum electronics, nonlinear optics, and laser physics. In particular, he has made outstanding contributions to the fields of semiconductor lasers, nonlinear fiber- optics, and optical communications. Among Prof. Agrawal’s numerous contributions to the field of semiconductor lasers, the most outstanding contribution is his prediction in 1987 of highly non-degenerate four-wave mixing in semiconductor lasers and amplifiers. In 1988 he developed a complete theory of both nearly degenerate and highly non-degenerate four-wave mixing His work has led to a new method of wavelength conversion with potential applications in multichannel optical communication systems. The technique of wavelength conversion is of tremendous importance in the context of today’s very hot topic of dense wavelength division multiplexed optical fiber transmission, which appears to be the only solution available today to fulfill the demand for huge bandwidth posed by the internet revolution and convergence of voice, video, and data.
Prof. Agrawal is an author or co-author of extensively cited more than 250 research papers, several book chapters and review articles, and three books entitled “Semiconductor Lasers”, “Nonlinear Fiber- optics” and “Fiber-optics Communication Systems”. He has also edited the books “Contemporary Nonlinear Optics” and “Semiconductor Lasers: Past, Present, and Future”. The three monumental textbooks authored by Prof. Agrawal have influenced an entire generation of researchers and students in Photonics. The book on “Semiconductor Lasers”, first published in 1986, has helped graduate students and engineers in learning the field of laser diodes. The book entitled “Nonlinear Fiber-optics” is the often-cited text covering the entire field of nonlinear fiber optics. It is used widely and has been translated into Chinese, Japanese, and Russian languages. The book on “Fiber-optics Communication Systems” deals with the design of lightwave transmission systems and is used worldwide as the main textbook for courses dealing with optical communications. Prof. Agrawal has received many honors for his outstanding accomplishments in Science and Technology. He is a Fellow of both the Optical Society of America (OSA) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). He has been and continues to be on the editorial board of several leading international journals and is serving as one of the Editors for the Academic Press Book Series on “Optics and Photonics” since 1998. He has served on the prestigious Townes and Holonyak Award Committees of the Optical Society of America.
In honoring Prof. Govind P Agrawal, we recognize the outstanding contributions made by him as a Scientist & Technologist who has earned recognition in the international scientific and engineering community and through achievements brought glory to the name of this Institute.
