===============================================================

In Memorium (by Andrew Woods)



Stephen A. Benton

Dec. 1, 1941 - Nov 9, 2003



Professor Stephen A. Benton (Steve to his many friends) passed away on

Sunday evening (9 November 2003) after a long struggle with brain cancer.



Stephen A. Benton was Professor of Media Arts & Sciences at Massachusetts

Institute of Technology (MIT) (Cambridge, Massachusetts) and Head of the

Spatial Imaging Group, MIT Media Laboratory. He invented white-light

"Rainbow" holography, holographic video, edge-lit holography, and other vast

improvements in holographic stereography.



After finishing his undergraduate degree at MIT in 1964 and his Doctorate in

Physics at Harvard University in 1968, he went to work beside Dr. Edwin Land

at Polaroid. He worked on many projects at Polaroid, especially holography.

He pushed the field from its start and collaborated with artists to show the

power of these techniques. He produced some of the most memorable images in

holography. He was able to instruct artists, without technical backgrounds,

in the new techniques he was inventing, which allowed more people to

immediately use his new inventions. One of his most significant inventions

is the "Rainbow Hologram," which led to accurate color control in

transmission holography.



Benton became a professor at MIT in 1982 and was a founding professor and

academic head of the MIT Media Lab in 1984. He also started the Spatial

Imaging Group (SPI) at MIT. In this group he provided the only place in the

world where students could come to learn the rigorous math, science, and

engineering of holographic display systems.



At the Media Lab, Benton and his students invented holograms with 180-degree

fields of view, holographic video systems, reflection hologram precise

color-control, edge-lit holograms, and extremely high-quality holographic

stereograms. These inventions comprise most of the technical advances in the

field for the past 20 years.



Benton holds several patents and has published numerous articles and books

including his 2001 compilation "Selected Papers on Three-Dimensional

Displays". He was a fellow of SPIE, OSA, and IS&T and has held positions of

leadership at various professional societies. He was chair of the Practical

Holography conferences from 1989 to 2002 and co-chair of the Stereoscopic

Displays and Applications conferences from 2000 to 2003.



Steve leaves his wife Jeannie, son Jamie, and daughter Julia. He was 61.



-----

More: http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/nr/2003/benton.html

http://spie.org/Announcements/

http://www.spie.org/web/oer/july/jul99/spiescene.html



A conference celebrating Steve's life was held on 11 November 2003. The

video of this event can be seen online:

http://www.media.mit.edu/events/benton-vision.html



-----

To unsubscribe from the SDAlist,

send a message to SDAunsub@liberty.curtin.edu.au