James Leger

James Leger is a Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Minnesota, holding the Cymer Professorship for Advanced Optical Systems, Metrology, and Lasers. He directs the Leger Research Group, focusing on micro/nano optics, diffractive optics, and computational imaging for electro-optic and biomedical applications.

• Education: BS in Applied Physics (Caltech, 1974), PhD in Electrical Engineering (UCSD, 1980)
• Key Research Areas: Coherent beam combining, laser resonator design, gradient-index metrology, and biomedical sensing via surface plasmon resonance

Article Trends: Recent work emphasizes non-line-of-sight imaging using plenoptic data, THz radiation, and spectral unmixing, alongside gradient-index beam shapers and laser vortex generation. His group investigates how passive systems can extract 3D information from scattered light and optimize beam combining architectures.

• Awards: OSA Fellow (1995), IEEE Fellow (2002), SPIE Fellow (2002), Joseph Fraunhofer Award (1998), George Taylor Research Award (2000)
• Students: Mentored 17 PhD/MS graduates, including Todd Ballen, Qiwen Zhan, and Eric Shields, with ongoing advising of 7 current students

Teaching & Service: Directed lower-division programs at the University of Minnesota, served as Applied Optics topical editor (1997-2003), and chaired conferences for OSA and SPIE. Holds 16 patents in diffractive optics and laser beam combining.