Edward F. Labuda

Biography

Edward F. Labuda graduated from Jeannette, High School in 1955 as co-valedictorian, received a BS in Physics from Case Institute of Technology in 1959, a MS in Electrical Engineering from New York University in 1961, and a Ph.D. in Electrophysics from Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn in 1967.

Ed joined AT&T Bell Labs in Murray Hill, NJ in June of 1959. After a 35-year career, he retired from AT&T as Vice President, AT&T Microelectronics and Chief Operating Officer of the Photonics Business Unit. His business unit responsibilities included marketing, product planning, finance, research and development operations in Breinigsville, PA, and Murray Hill, NJ and manufacturing operations in Reading, PA, and Clark, NJ, a sub-cable repeater assembly plant.

His technical and executive leadership work was in the area of fiber optic devices, subsystems, and associated passive components, silicon integrated circuit technology, imaging cameras for video systems, and gas lasers. He led the product development teams for fiber optic transmitters, receivers, and other components used in the AT&T fiber-optic terrestrial network, including the first multi-Gb/s transcontinental transmission systems, and in the initial AT&T Trans-Atlantic & Trans-Pacific fiber optic cables. In the 1960s, along with co-workers, he developed the continuous duty argon-ion laser. He pioneered the medical applications of this laser, and with Dr. F. LeEsperance of Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in NY, adapted the laser to successfully treat diabetic retinopathy, which if untreated is a leading cause of blindness in the world. Ed was awarded 13 patents in the field of electronic devices, and he contributed 25 papers to the technical literature.

From 1994 to 1999, Ed served as Executive Director of the Photonics Technical Society of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), and through 2010 he served on the Board of Directors of several high-tech start-up companies.

Ed served as: Treasurer of the Salisbury Township School Authority, a board member for Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Lehigh County, a member of the Visiting Evaluation Committees for Sherman Fairchild Physics Laboratory of Lehigh University and the Electrical Engineering Department of Virginia Tech, a member of the Kutztown University Foundation Board (over 10 years), and first Board Chairman of the revamped Kutztown Folk Festival.

Ed was elected a Fellow of the IEEE and is a Life Fellow Member of IEEE. He received: an Outstanding Alumni Award from the School District of the City of Jeannette, PA, a Meritorious Service Award from the Case Alumni Association, a Distinguished Service Award from the IEEE Photonics Society, and the Eberly Award for Philanthropy and Volunteerism from the PA State system of Higher Education.