Stephen Fantone

Stephen D. Fantone is the Founder and President and CEO of Opticos Corporation, headquartered in Wakefield, Massachusetts. Dr. Fantone attended MIT where he received bachelor’s degrees in both electric engineering and management. In 1979 he was awarded Ph.D. degree in Optics from the Institute of Optics at the University of Rochester. He began his career with Polaroid Corporation and later went on to found Optikos.

Recognized expert in optical engineering and optical product development, Dr. Fantone As a has served on numerous program review panels, provided expert testimony on patent infringement and trade secret litigation cases, and has been awarded over 65 patents covering a broad range of optical technologies.

He is a Senior Lecturer in the Mechanical Engineering Department at MIT and serves on the boards of the Pioneer Institute for Public Policy Research, the Hertz Foundation, and the Optical Society (OSA) Foundation. Additional board service includes Rofin-Sinar Technologies prior to its sale to Coherent, Inc., Zygo Corporation, prior to its sale to Ametek; and he served as Chairman of Benthos, Inc., a supplier of oceanographic and package inspection instrumentation, from 1996 until its sale to Teledyne Technologies.

Dr. Fantone has been an OSA member for over 40 years and has served in several volunteer capacities, including Treasurer from 1996 to 2013; in 2007, he was awarded their Distinguished Service Award, and in October 2013, The Optical Society honored Dr. Fantone by renaming that award the Stephen D. Fantone Distinguished Award. Dr. Fantone was elected as the Optical Society’s 2018 Vice President, has served in 2019 as President-Elect, in 2020 will serve as President, and in 2021 as Past-President. On May 16, 2015, he received the University of Rochester Distinguished Scholar Award at the University’s 2015 Doctoral Ceremony.