In Memoriam: Jim Schwiegerling
SPIE Fellow Jim Schwiegerling, professor emeritus of optical sciences at the University of Arizona, passed away on 5 April.
An SPIE Member for more than 18 years, Schwiegerling authored several papers in the SPIE Digital Library on subjects such as instrumentation for ophthalmology and optometry; and remote measurement of spectacle lenses. He also published two books, Optical Specification, Fabrication, and Testing and Field Guide to Visual and Ophthalmic Optics with SPIE Press.
Schwiegerling, a native New Yorker, received his BS and MS degrees in optics from the University of Rochester in 1990 and 1991, respectively. After graduation, he left the cold, cloudiness of upstate New York and headed for sunny Tucson, Arizona. At the University of Arizona (UA), studying under Prof. John E. Greivenkamp, he completed his dissertation, “Visual performance prediction using schematic eye models” and received a PhD in optical sciences in 1995. Afterwards, he spent several years working as an assistant research scientist, and a professor in the Department of Ophthalmology at UA. In August of 2010, he became a professor in UA's College of Optical Sciences. In 2020, Schwiegerling was honored with the prestigious appointment to the Robert R. Shannon Endowed Chair in Optical Sciences.
Also in 2020, Schwiegerling was acclaimed when he designed implantable cataract replacement lenses for the eye that allow for distance, mid-range, and near vision, possibly eliminating the need for glasses or contacts for some.
"One of the complaints about bifocal lenses is that you can drive a car and read, but everything in between was kind of fuzzy and with all the screens (we use today), people wanted that extra intermediate distance," Schwiegerling said in an article in University of Arizona News.
In 2021, Schwiegerling was honored twice for his trifocal lens. He was named Inventor of the Year at the Southern Arizona Tech + Business Expo in Tucson and Innovation Leader of the Year — Academia at the Governor’s Celebration of Innovation.
Jim Schwiegerling, left, at the Governor’s Celebration of Innovation, with Karla Morales, Chairwoman of the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Credit: Dominic Ortega
A memorial for Schwiegerling will be held starting at 3 PM PT on Friday, 5 May in the Meinel Auditorium at UA's Wyant College of Optical Sciences.
His family has requested that those wishing to make donations in memory of him direct their gifts to the ARVO Foundation for Eye Research.
Read the memorium for Jim Schwiegerling from UA.
