Caltech Mourns the Death of William Bridges (1934–2024)

William B. Bridges, the Carl F Braun Professor of Engineering, Emeritus, died on November 1, 2024, at the age of 89. Bridges was best known for his invention of the argon ion laser, which is still used today to treat diabetic retinopathy, in DNA sequencing, and to help increase the power of other lasers, for example.

Bridges was born on Thanksgiving Day, November 29, 1934, in Inglewood, California. After graduating near the top of his class from Inglewood High School in 1952, Bridges attended the UC Berkeley to study electrical engineering. While there, he became interested in microwaves and microwave tubes.

After graduating in 1956, Bridges stayed at Berkeley for graduate school, earning his master’s degree in 1957 and his doctorate in 1962. He began working at Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu (which later became HRL Laboratories) in June 1961. It was there that he developed the argon ion laser, which uses ionized gas as its lasing medium.

Bridges joined the Caltech faculty as a professor of electrical engineering and applied physics in 1977 and remained a consultant at HRL for many years. He had been a Sherman Fairchild Distinguished Scholar at Caltech during the 1974–75 academic year. He is credited with establishing electrical engineering as a major field at Caltech and served as executive officer for electrical engineering from 1978–81.

Bridges, who was named the Braun Professor in 1983, remained at Caltech for the rest of his career. He became an emeritus professor in 2002.

Among other honors, Bridges was a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Sciences, and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He received the Arthur L. Schawlow Medal from the Laser Institute of America in 1988 and was a fellow of the IEEE as well as the Optical Society of America (now Optica), for which he served as president in 1988. He received the Distinguished Teaching Award from the Associated Students of Caltech in 1980 and 1982, and the organization’s Lifetime Excellence in Teaching Award in 2000.

A full obituary will be posted at a later date.