Theodore Harold Maiman

The breakthrough creation of the ruby laser changed the world as we know it and initiated the scientific explosion in what has come to be known as the electro-optics industry. From its auspicious beginning on May 16, 1960, all other lasers flowed with enormous diversity in laser applications, including: fiber-optic communications, CD/DVD players and computer ROMs, laser printers, industrial tools and revolutionary medical procedures.

Theodore Harold Maiman was born in Los Angeles California on July 11, 1927. His teen years were spent repairing electronic devices and radios. His undergraduate studies were at the University of Colorado (B.S. in engineering physics), and both of his graduate degrees were from Stanford University (M.S. in electrical engineering and PhD in physics). His doctoral thesis in experimental physics, under the direction of Nobel Laureate Willis Lamb, involved detailed microwave-optical measurements of fine structure splittings in excited helium atoms.

Maiman's laser work was done during the period from 1956 to 1961 while he was head of the Quantum Electronics Section at Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu, California. In 1960 he created and patented the ruby laser, the first operational laser in the world. During that period he also devised and advanced solid-state maser concepts and products, other lasers, laser displays, optical scanning, and modulation.

In 1962, Maiman founded Korad Corporation to develop and manufacture a line of high-powered laser equipment. Korad became the dominant market leader in its field. Subsequently he formed Maiman Associates, a management consulting firm, which provides technical and management advisory services in high technology fields. He also co-founded Laser Video, Inc., where he developed unique large-screen, laser driven color video displays.

From 1976 to 1983, Maiman was Vice President of Advanced Technology and New Ventures for the Electronics and Defense sector of TRW. He was instrumental in organizing and launching TRW's commercial LSI Products Division, the introduction of fiber-optics technology to the company, and the initiation of advanced array processor products to TRW.

In 1999 he moved to Vancouver with his wife Kathleen, and three years later he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Simon Fraser University. In 2000, Maiman completed a memoir entitled "The Laser Odyssey", outlining the years and months leading up to to the completion of the first laser, and his later achievements. Before his death in 2007, he was active in the development of the optical engineering and biophotonics curriculum at SFU's School of Engineering Science. The Simon Fraser University library currently holds his archived documents in the Maiman Collection.

Over his lifetime, Maiman published some 20 papers in professional journals and authored several articles in scientific encyclopedias. He presented invited papers at the American Physical Society, American Optical Society, International Conference on Quantum Electronics, the International YAG Medical Laser Society (1983), international laser medical symposiums in Tokyo, Taipei, and Bangkok, and delivered the opening ceremonial speech at the international Symposium "Laser 73" in Munich.