Keynote Speaker

Professor of Optics

Prof. Julie L. Bentley is the Rudolf and Hilda Kingslake Professor in Optical Engineering Science at the University of Rochester’s Institute of Optics. Her work focuses on optical design, tolerancing, and the fabrication of precision optical systems, with additional expertise in geometrical optics, aberration theory, and biomedical optics.

Before joining academia full-time, she worked in industry at Hughes Aircraft and Corning Tropel, designing and manufacturing precision optical systems. She later founded Bentley Optical Design, where her projects have ranged from biomedical instruments for cancer screening to consumer and defense applications. Alongside her research and consulting activities, Bentley has been teaching optical design and engineering for more than 25 years and is particularly recognized for her contributions to optics education.

She is a Fellow of SPIE and Optica and has served the international optics and photonics community in numerous leadership roles. In 2026, she serves as President of SPIE. Her contributions to education and the field have been recognized with honors including the SPIE Directors’ Award and Optica’s Esther Hoffman Beller Medal.