BELLINGHAM, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 25, 2026--
David Hagan has been elected to serve as the 2027 Vice President of SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics. He will serve as President-Elect in 2028, and as the Society’s President in 2029. The SPIE Board of Directors is influential in the scientific community, establishing policy and strategy and conducting activities of interest to SPIE Members.
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The 2026 SPIE President, Julie Bentley, professor of optics at the University of Rochester, made the new electees announcement at the Annual General Meeting of the Society on 25 August during SPIE Optics + Photonics. Terms begin on 1 January 2027.
In addition to his work at CREOL (University of Florida, USA), Hagan has been an SPIE Fellow since 2017. His research has focused on nonlinear optical materials, leading to widely adopted techniques, new theoretical understandings, and multiple highly cited publications. Hagan’s service has included actively participating as a board member of the Florida Photonics Cluster as well as on the SPIE Board of Directors and the Strategic Planning and Education and Outreach Committees. He also chaired the Conference on Nonlinear Optical Liquids at SPIE Optics + Photonics. Hagan plans to focus on building consensus for a sustained global outreach initiative to increase awareness of optics and photonics, help expand the workforce pipeline, and foster a diverse and welcoming community.
"The world increasingly depends on photonics, and our greatest responsibility is to ensure that the next generation is ready to lead its future," says Hagan. "I am honored to serve SPIE and look forward to working with our global community to inspire, educate, and empower the scientists and engineers who will shape that future."
Alongside Hagan, Cather Simpson of the University of Auckland will serve as the 2027 SPIE President, while Kyle Myers of Puente Solutions, LLC will serve as the 2027 President-Elect.
SPIE Fellow Jim McNally, CEO of StratTHNK Associates, has been serving as SPIE Secretary/Treasurer since 2023, and was elected to serve again in 2027. McNally was awarded an Invention of the Year by TIME magazine in 2006 for his work as the founding CEO of TruTouch Technologies, Inc., which developed the world’s first non-invasive alcohol measurement product.
The four newly elected Society Directors will serve three-year terms from 2027-2029:
Jana Kainerstorfer is professor and associate department head of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, USA, and is on the Scientific Advisory Board of CoMind Technologies, UK.
Katie Schwertz is senior manager of Optical Assemblies & Technology at Edmund Optics, USA, and was named to Electro Optics The Photonics100 in 2025.
Marla Dowell is executive director of EDGE Consortium and a visiting professor at Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College, USA, and has received the NIST Allen V. Astin Award for leadership in laser metrology.
Mark Clampin is deputy associate administrator of the Science Mission Directorate with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), USA, and received a Presidential Meritorious Rank Award in 2021.
The SPIE Nominating Committee accepts recommendations for the election slate on an ongoing basis. Directors, who serve a three-year term, are expected to attend and participate in three board meetings each year. To make a recommendation, or for more information, email governance@spie.org.
About SPIE
SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, brings engineers, scientists, students, and business professionals together to advance light-based science and technology. The Society, founded in 1955, connects and engages with our global constituency through industry-leading conferences and exhibitions; publications of conference proceedings, books, and journals in the SPIE Digital Library; and career-building opportunities. Over the past five years, we have invested more than $26 million in the international optics community through our advocacy and support, including scholarships, educational resources, travel grants, endowed gifts, and public-policy development. Learn more about us at spie.org.
Top row, from left to right: David Hagan, Jim McNally, Mark Clampin. Bottom row, from left to right: Marla Dowell, Jana Kainerstorfer, Katie Schwertz
DALLAS (AP) — A California couple in an escalating fight with their surrogate over a newborn with a life-threatening heart defect told a Texas court Tuesday that the child's condition has worsened and they are anguished by attempts to deny them parental rights because they previously wanted an abortion.
“He's our child,” Nausheen Gilkar said, wiping away tears on the witness stand.
“She's unstable,” Gilkar said of surrogate McKenna West, who was sitting across from her in the Dallas courtroom. “She's trying to take him from us.”
The hearing offered the fullest public airing to date of a deepening and high-profile dispute over surrogacy and abortion that has rushed right-to-life groups and GOP officeholders to the side of West, a nurse who flew from Alaska to have the baby on Aug. 12 in Texas, where most abortions are banned.
Gilkar and her husband, Omar Ahmed, say they named the newborn Rumi. Attorneys for West, who has called the child Gabriel, said she is seeking sole conservatorship to make medical decisions for the child.
It was not clear when the judge would issue an order in the case.
West told the court that she was 23 weeks pregnant when she made an appointment for an abortion at the couple's urging but was not comfortable with it.
“I knew that this baby, despite the diagnosis, had a great chance at survival and a great chance at leading a long life,” West said.
After West gave birth, the couple obtained a restraining order barring her from seeing or holding the child.
The judge did not rule on final custody or conservatorship Tuesday, and the restraining order was left in effect.
Court documents filed by the couple's attorney prior to the hearing said Rumi was in critical condition and appeared to be “suffering from potential complications” from a procedure after he was born.
The child has hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a congenital defect in which one side of the organ is underdeveloped, preventing normal blood flow.
Fewer than 1,000 newborns each year have the condition, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Without treatment, death can come within days or weeks.
Gilkar told the court that the baby had no blood flow to the left side of his heart. Since surgery, she said, he has gasped for air, choked on tubes and needed a blood transfusion.
“He’s the most beautiful person I’ve never seen,” Gilkar said. “He’s the love of our lives. He’s suffering a lot.”
West and her attorneys have argued that Gilkar and Ahmed were not committed to guaranteeing that the baby would undergo surgeries or “life-saving care.” They say West should have conservatorship because the couple asked her to terminate the pregnancy after learning of the baby's diagnosis.
On the stand, West told their attorney, Lee Budner, that if the court finds that the couple are committed to the baby receiving the surgeries, she would drop any custody claims.
Jeff Domen, an attorney for West, repeatedly pressed Gilkar on the couple's desire to terminate the pregnancy, asking her to confirm that she requested it. Asked if she regretted the decision, Gilkar responded that she did not.
“Would you trust somebody to care for your child that wanted your child dead?” Domen asked.
Gilkar said she did not know how to respond to the question.
Gilkar and Ahmed say West violated the surrogacy contract they entered in August 2025.
Gilkar told the court that she entered the contract after going through eight rounds of in vitro fertilization in Los Angeles and her body “gave up.” She had to undergo a hysterectomy, she said.
“It was not my first choice, it was my only option,” Gilkar said.
West stayed in the couple's home in Los Angeles, Gilkar said, and she was there with West for the IVF transfer.
“I was holding her hand,” Gilkar said, crying.
The couple’s attorney referenced court records from California that determined West has no rights to legal or physical custody. West said she wanted the judge to disregard that ruling, saying she was willing to fight for him since the diagnosis.
Surrogacy is not regulated on a federal level, and experts say each state has its own laws, which can leave room for gaps in interpretation.
“We believe Ms. West is the mother of this child,” Domen said.
Wilder is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Nausheen Gilkar, center, walks in a hallway at family court in Dallas, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Omar Ahmed, right, and his wife Nausheen Gilkar, center, arrive for a court hearing in Dallas, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
McKenna West, left, arrivers with her legal team for a court hearing in Dallas, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
McKenna West, center, walks in a hallway before a court hearing in Dallas, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Omar Ahmed, right, and his wife Nausheen Gilkar, center, arrive for a court hearing in Dallas, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
McKenna West, left, arrivers with her legal team for a court hearing in Dallas, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Nausheen Gilkar, left, and her husband Omar Ahmed arrive for a court hearing in Dallas, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
