Erich P. Ippen is a principal investigator in the Research Laboratory of Electronics (RLE) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He holds appointments as the Elihu Thomson Professor of Electrical Engineering Emeritus and Professor of Physics Emeritus. He is one of the leaders of RLE’s Optics and Quantum Electronics Group. In 1997 he was awarded the Arthur L. Schawlow Prize in Laser Science. He was president of the Optical Society of America in 2000. In 2004 the Charles Hard Townes Award and in 2006 the Frederic Ives Medal.