Dr. Donna Strickland is a distinguished physicist renowned for her groundbreaking contributions to laser science and optics. She currently serves as a Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Waterloo in Canada, where she has led an ultrafast laser research group since joining the faculty in 1997. Born in Guelph, Ontario in 1959, Dr. Strickland demonstrated exceptional aptitude in mathematics and physics during her high school years, which led her to pursue engineering physics at McMaster University where she earned her bachelor's degree in 1981. Following her undergraduate studies, she continued her academic journey at the University of Rochester, completing her doctoral work in optics in 1989, with prior research experience at the National Research Council Canada and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
Dr. Strickland's most significant contribution to science was the development of chirped pulse amplification (CPA), a revolutionary technique for generating high-intensity, ultra-short optical laser pulses, which she pioneered alongside her doctoral supervisor Gérard Mourou. Published in her very first scientific paper in 1985, this technique overcame the fundamental limitation of laser intensity by first stretching the laser pulses in time to reduce their peak power, then amplifying them, and finally compressing them to achieve dramatically increased intensity without destroying the amplifying material. This innovation has enabled the creation of the most intense laser pulses ever produced by humankind, and has become the standard method in high-intensity laser systems worldwide. The practical applications of CPA are extensive, most notably in millions of corrective laser eye surgeries performed globally, as well as in precision laser machining, fundamental scientific research, and various medical applications requiring extreme precision.
As only the third woman in history to receive the Nobel Prize in Physics, following Marie Curie (1903) and Maria Goeppert Mayer (1963), Dr. Strickland's accomplishment has provided significant inspiration for women in physics and STEM fields globally. She previously served as President of the Optical Society (OSA, now Optica) in 2013 and is recognized as a fellow of numerous prestigious organizations including the Optical Society, the Royal Society of Canada, and SPIE (International Society for Optics and Photonics). Following her Nobel recognition in 2018, Dr. Strickland was promoted to full professor at the University of Waterloo and was appointed as a Companion of the Order of Canada in 2019, one of Canada's highest civilian honors. Her continued research focuses on advancing ultrafast laser systems for nonlinear optics investigations, ensuring that her pioneering work continues to drive innovation in both fundamental physics and practical applications that benefit society.
