CREOL Founding Faculty Join Forces to Fund the Next Generation
The largest single planned gift ever made by a UCF faculty member will support graduate students for years to come.
Five current and former faculty members have already spent much of their careers building CREOL into the world-class optics and photonics center it is today.
Now, they’re pledging generous gifts to ensure the next generation of students and researchers are well-equipped to light the way forward.
The challenge came from Emeritus Professor Eric Van Stryland, who became CREOL’s first Dean when the then-School of Optics was elevated to a College in 2004. He and his wife Barbara called on other inaugural faculty members to join them in a pledge to the CREOL Founding Faculty Graduate Fellowship Fund.
Five founding faculty members chipped in $50,000 of their own: Professors MJ Soileau, Peter Delfyett, Jannick Rolland, Shin-Tson Wu, and current CREOL Dean David Hagan. The Van Strylands matched those contributions at an incredible 4:1 rate, yielding $250,000 endowed graduate fellowship funds.
And it doesn’t have to stop there: the opportunity remains for more faculty members to join the pledge, taking advantage of the 4:1 match to create their own fellowships.
The program will financially support students who commit to pursuing advanced degrees in optics and photonics, ensuring CREOL remains a top developer of industry talent and innovative research for years to come.
These are the inaugural five funds:
Soileau Family Graduate Endowed Fund
As CREOL’s Founding Director in 1987, Dr. MJ Soileau transformed the fledgling research center into one of the world’s major educational and research institutions for optics. Dr. Soileau went on to serve as UCF’s Vice President for Research and Commercialization for 17 years, and recently joined the ranks of emeritus Professor.
Dr. Peter Delfyett Graduate Endowed Fund
For more than 30 years, Distinguished Professor Peter Delfyett has left an indelible mark on CREOL. The author of more than 200 scientific publications holds 45 U.S. Patents and was recently inducted into the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame. He is UCF’s first sitting faculty member to be inducted into the National Academy of Engineering.
Jannick Rolland Endowed Graduate Fund for Women
Dr. Jannick Rolland is the Brian J. Thompson Professor of Optical Engineering at the University of Rochester, and the CTO and co-founder of LighTopTech. During her 12 years at CREOL, Professor Rolland built the inaugural Optical Diagnostics and Applications Laboratory (ODALab). Dr. Rolland is a member of the National Academy of Inventors., and one of the 101 first inductees in the XR Hall of Fame inaugurated in 2024.
Wu Family Graduate Endowed Fund
UCF Trustee Professor Shin-Tson Wu is CREOL’s most-published faculty member, having co-authored 7 books, 685 journal papers, and 320 conference papers. The holder of 98 U.S. Patents was recently awarded UCF’s inaugural Medal of Societal Impact in recognition of his pioneering research into the evolution of liquid crystal displays.
David and Monica Hagan Graduate Endowed Fellowship
David Hagan joined CREOL in 1987 as an Assistant Professor. Now serving as Dean, he is leading the charge on CREOL’s ongoing growth of both student enrollment and research areas. He is a fellow of Optica and SPIE and serves on the SPIE Board of Directors, as he continues to lead a research group focused on nonlinear optics.
LIGHTING THE WAY FORWARD
Van Stryland says each of the founding faculty members were instrumental in leading the institution to the place it is today.
“Everything that I’ve done since I got here has been for the good of CREOL, to make it a success,” he says, “And they have been doing the same.”
He says that work started in the late 1980s, when CREOL was a double-wide trailer on the site where the building stands today. But appearance aside, Van Stryland says what really set it apart was their “open door” policy that encouraged students and faculty to connect with one another.
“It’s really important for the advancement of science that you get to know your colleagues intimately,” he says, “In the sense of not just scientifically, or engineeringly, but personally.”
That spirit of camaraderie sparked rapid growth. CREOL’s building was finally completed in 1995, and it has expanded along with the college’s research areas, faculty, and staff. After becoming a college in 2004, Van Stryland served as the first Dean, setting a course that continues to this day.
“This whole growth of optics and photonics during my lifetime has been so dramatic,” Van Stryland says.
He points at his cell phone, hinting at the technology that made its display, and how advances in optical lithography allow for the electronic “chips” that make them handheld.
“Just about everything you look at, optics is a piece of that. It’s really quite a remarkable thing that’s happened, and being part of this during my life has just made it really rewarding.”
Reflecting on that history led Barbara and Eric Van Stryland to launch the CREOL Founding Faculty Graduate Fellowship Fund by pledging at least $2 million to match other faculty donors. This marks the largest single planned gift ever made by a faculty member in UCF history.
Van Stryland says inspiring fellow founding faculty members to support future graduate students is a fitting way to punctuate their legacies.
“It’s a passion for us to build this place that will create the future,” he says.
Throughout his career, Van Stryland graduated 41 Ph.D.s, published about 300 papers, and was honored for the highest honor UCF bestows, the Pegasus Award. Now retired, he can still be seen in the office most days, usually sporting a Hawaiian shirt as he reads over papers and meets with students.
“It’s been a fun career,” Van Stryland says, “I don’t want to give it up.”
