[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 73 (Friday, May 4, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5615-S5616]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                  IN MEMORY--ARTHUR H. GUENTHER, PH.D.

 Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, today I note the passing away of 
Dr. Art Guenther on April 21, 2007.
  Art Guenther was born April 18, 1931, in Hoboken, NJ. As a kid he 
loved the outdoors and became New Jersey's youngest Eagle Scout. He 
wanted to be a forest ranger and hoped to attend a college with a good 
forestry program, but those schools didn't accept out-of-state 
students. A teacher had noticed Guenther's aptitude in math and science 
and got him into Rutgers. There he majored in chemistry, earning his 
bachelor's degree in 1953.
  As a grad student at Penn State, he wanted to pursue optics. His 
thesis advisor asked, ``Why optics? The cream is gone,'' meaning all 
the good research had been done. Guenther persisted, receiving his 
Ph.D. in chemistry and physics in 1957. He joined the Air Force and was 
sent to Kirtland Air Force Base. His mother wondered why they were 
sending him out of the country on his first assignment. After serving 2 
years, he left the Air Force and became a civilian employee and a New 
Mexican for the remainder of his life. His optics work would pay off in 
1960, after the laser was first demonstrated. As the only person at 
Kirtland with a background in optics, Guenther was asked by the 
commander of the research directorate to evaluate lasers for potential 
Air Force use. He toured the country and reported back on the promise 
of the new technology. At the request of the Air Force, he established 
a laser program and later became chief scientist of the Air Force 
Weapons Lab, a

[[Page S5616]]

position he held for 15 of his 31 years with the Air Force.
  By 1965 Guenther had become one of the world's leading experts in 
simulating effects of atomic explosions. He also gained experience in 
advanced optical systems, high-power lasers, high-power microwaves, 
pulsed power, materials science, and weapons effects. Guenther is 
considered a pioneer in the development of pulsed-power technology and 
its defense applications. Dr. Guenther stood out as not only a 
scientist but someone who was deeply concerned about bettering the 
lives of New Mexicans by promoting the spread of science outside the 
laboratory gates through education and high technology economic 
development. Art Guenther helped develop an optics curriculum at 
Albuquerque Technical Vocational Institute. The program was so 
successful it had a waiting list.
  In the 1980s, Guenther was one of the first to see a high-tech future 
for New Mexico. Gov. Bruce King in 1981 established the Governor's 
Technical Excellence Committee, GTEC, with Guenther as a member. King 
asked GTEC to assess the State's high-tech assets; they found 15,000 
Ph.D.s, major research universities and three Federal laboratories 
along the Rio Grande.
  At a time when other States had their Silicon Valley or Research 
Triangle, it was Guenther who coined the term ``Rio Grande Research 
Corridor.'' He chaired the State Science and Technology Committee, 
which proposed and got the five Centers of Technical Excellence in 
1983. One of those was the Center for High-Tech Materials at UNM.
  In 1988, Guenther became chief scientist for advanced defense 
technology at Los Alamos National Laboratory. In that post, he was 
science adviser to Gov. Garrey Carruthers and again for Gov. Bruce 
King. In 1991 he became scientific adviser for laboratory development 
and manager of alliances at Sandia.
  Guenther retired in 1998, but his family and colleagues know he 
didn't really retire. He became a research professor at UNM's Center 
for High-Tech Materials and was also on contract with the Air Force 
Office of Scientific Research. He maintained a staggering schedule of 
travel, meetings, research and civic involvement. Also in 1998, after 
identifying a wealth of optics activity in the State, he became co-
founder of the New Mexico Optics Industry Association. And through 
NMOIA, he was instrumental in founding the Photonics Academy at West 
Mesa High School. He also helped organize the Directed Energy 
Professionals Society.
  Art received numerous honors and awards. Some of these awards include 
the Distinguished Executive Rank Award from President Reagan, the Harry 
Diamond Award from the Institute of Electrical and Electronic 
Engineers, the Director's Award of the International Society of Optical 
Engineering, the David Richardson Medal of the Optical Society of 
America, and the Arthur L. Schawlow Medal from the Laser Institute of 
America in 1983. He has twice received the New Mexico Distinguished 
Public Service Award. In 1992 he was one of the first Americans to be 
named to the Russian Academy of Sciences. He had worked with Russian 
scientists since the 1960s and was credited with improving 
communication between the two countries.
  Guenther brought so many technical meetings to Albuquerque that he 
earned a special award from the Albuquerque Convention and Visitors 
Bureau. On April 25, the New Mexico Optics Industry Association honored 
him with the organization's first Lifetime Service Award.
  Mr. President, my State was blessed by Art Guenther's energy and 
dedication and we will miss him.

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