I started my association with Applied Optics in the fall of 1979. As a first-year graduate student, I came to the journal first as a reader. Most of the prior work in incoherent imaging had been published in Applied Optics. In 1986, after the completion of my doctoral degree, I joined the ranks of Applied Optics authors, and, contemporaneously, the ranks of Applied Optics reviewers. I maintained my association with the journal as reader, author, and reviewer until 2000, when I first added editor to the list. Neal Gallagher, then editor of the Information Processing Division, asked me to be a topical editor in Fourier Optics and Optical Processing.

I held that position until 2004 when I became editor of the Information Processing Division and, in 2009, I became the journal’s sixth Editor-in-Chief. In December of this year, after serving 15 years in an editorial capacity with the journal, I will return once again to being a reader, author, and, I expect, reviewer.

I am pleased to have had the opportunity to contribute to the journal’s legacy. Throughout my tenure I sought to follow the example set by my doctoral advisor, William T. Rhodes, when he served as Editor-in-Chief 25 years ago.

In the past six years my goal has been to define clearly to readers, authors, editors, and reviewers the content of Applied Optics, especially as the number of authors attracted to on-line, open-access, high-impact journals increases. First and foremost, the journal’s content is applied and Applied Optics is the only OSA journal with this specific mission. Second, articles are in depth, by which I mean authors explore fully scientific phenomena. They investigate and characterize the performance of devices or systems. Just demonstrating a capability is insufficient for publication in Applied Optics. Applied Optics expects authors to describe how well a device or system performs under certain conditions.

This past year I have instituted several new features in the journal to underscore its applied content. Brian Monacelli is the journal’s feature editor for “Engineering and Laboratory Notes.” Gisele Bennett is the journal’s feature editor for reviews and institutional focus issues.

Despite the inroads I made with Applied Optics, given the options available to authors, the most appropriate OSA journal is not always obvious to them. In my future role on the OSA Publications Council, I hope to make the distinctions more clear, and I look forward to working closely with Martijn de Steerke, Chair of the Board of Editors, to see this happen.

With the selection of my successor, OSA is also making a statement about the Applied Optics brand. It is my pleasure to announce that Ronald G. Driggers of St. Johns Optical Systems has been selected as the journal’s new Editor-in-Chief. I have known Ron professionally for nearly two decades and consider him a friend, not just a colleague. Ron brings to the job his research, management, and practical experience, as well as his editorial credentials. Ron recently served as the Editor-in-Chief of SPIE’s Optical Engineering and prior to that he was an Applied Optics topical editor.

Rotating off the editorial masthead with me is the person I asked to replace me as Division Editor, T.-C. Poon of Virginia Tech. I have known T.-C. since we both were graduate students 30 years ago. (I was a student at Georgia Tech. T.-C. was at the University of Iowa.) T.-C. is probably one of the few people who read my dissertation who wasn’t on my doctoral committee. As Division Editor, T.-C. single-handedly established Applied Optics as the professional home for those working in three-dimensional imaging. He has been exceptional as a division editor, and I hope that OSA’s publications community will take full advantage of his expertise.

The OSA Publications and Applied Optics teams deserve special recognition for making my experience as editor enjoyable, positive, and, most importantly, productive. I thank each of you for your professionalism, commitment, and service with a smile: Elizabeth Nolan, Kelly Cohen, Joe Richardson, Dan McDonold, Rob Bernstein, Sika Dunyoh, Nikki Williams-Jones, Carmelita Washington, and Keith Jackson. I can’t say I’ll miss all the e-mails, but I will miss the interaction.