Rate My Professor James A. Piper

James A. Piper was an Emeritus Professor in the Department of Physics at Macquarie University, where he established one of Australia's first laser research programs. He earned his Bachelor of Science with honours from the University of Otago in 1968 and his PhD in 1971. Following a postdoctoral research position in gas laser physics at the University of Oxford, Piper joined Macquarie University as a lecturer in 1975. He advanced to full professor in 1985, served as Chair of the Department of Physics and as Dean, and held the position of Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research from 2003 to 2013, before becoming Emeritus Professor in 2012. During his tenure, he founded the Bachelor of Technology in Optoelectronics degree, training graduates for the optics industry, and contributed to university policy on large-scale research infrastructure and industry collaborations.

Piper's research spanned metal-vapor lasers, solid-state Raman lasers, laser applications in micromachining and medicine, and nanotechnology for bio-sensing and imaging. He directed the Australian Research Council Special Centre for Lasers and Applications from 1988 to 1996 and served as Chief Investigator for two ARC Centres of Excellence: the Centre for Ultra-high-bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems and the Centre for Nanoscale BioPhotonics. He co-authored over 400 refereed journal articles and hundreds of conference proceedings, accumulating nearly 13,000 citations. Piper supervised more than 50 PhD students, many of whom pursued successful careers in research, industry, and education. An inventor on more than 20 patents, he contributed to several laser start-ups. His awards include the Pawsey Medal from the Australian Academy of Science (1982), the inaugural Walter Boas Medal from the Australian Institute of Physics (1984), the Australian Optical Society Medal (1997), Optica Fellowship (1994), Carnegie Lectureship and honorary DSc from Heriot-Watt University (2006), and Member of the Order of Australia (2014) for service to tertiary education through research in applied laser physics. Piper led the Australian Optical Society as President (1985-1986), brought the International Quantum Electronics Conference to Australia (1996), and served as President of Science & Technology Australia (2015-2017).