Gary Starkweather
About Optica
In Memoriam: Gary Starkweather, 1938-2019
26 December 2019
Gary Starkweather, OSA Fellow and recipient of the David Richardson Medal, passed away at the age of 81. Starkweather was known for his contributions to the technology of laser xerography printing and to the realization of practical laser printers. Starkweather was working at the Xerox research center when he identified the method to send an electronic signal directly from a computer to a printer, which would revolutionize printing technology. Starkweather was responsible for the development of the Xerox 9700 laser printer, which became one of the most successful products in the company’s history.
Starkweather was born on 9 January 1938, in Lansing, Michigan. His interest in electronics started at an early age, and he would go on to study physics at Michigan State University as an undergraduate. Upon graduation in 1960, Starkweather moved to Rochester, NY, to work for the Bausch & Lomb optical company before moving to Xerox. He completed a master’s degree in optics in 1966 at the University of Rochester. Over the course of his career, Starkweather would work for Xerox, Apple Computer and Microsoft before retiring in 2005. While working in California, Starkweather served as a consultant on the digital effects team for the original Star Wars movie in 1977. He won an Academy Award for his work on color film scanning with Lucasfilm (Pixar).
Starkweather was an active OSA volunteer, serving on various award selection committees and as a member of the Frontiers in Optics Program Committee in 1994-1995. He was made an OSA Fellow in 1994. In 1989, he received the Paul F. Forman Team Engineering Excellence Award for numerous inventions in the field of laser scanning and printing that led to the commercial development of the laser printer. Starkweather was the 1991 recipient of the David Richardson Medal, which recognizes contributions to optical engineering, primarily in the commercial and industrial sector. He was elected to the US National Academy of Engineering in 2004 and named to the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2012.
Starkweather was a pioneer in laser printing technology and was a beloved colleague and friend to many within the scientific community. He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Joyce, two children and four grandchildren. He will be dearly missed.
OSA and the scientific community mourn the loss of Gary Starkweather.
