"Divestiture: new opportunities for Lightwave" proclaimed the headline of that first issue, which no doubt referred to the potential of a bright future for both the fiber optics industry and the magazine itself in the wake of the breakup of AT&T. The late Howard Rausch founded the publication, with Dr. John P. Ryan as editor-in-chief. Ryan used the editor's chair as a springboard from which to launch Ryan, Hankin, Kent, one of the premier market research firms of the bubble era. (The business is now part of Ovum, while Ryan is CEO of LCD designer Pixel Qi.) Rausch, meanwhile, managed to keep the new venture afloat before selling it to PennWell Publishing Co., now PennWell Corp., in 1990. He died in 2005.
Numerous people have filled the publisher and editor chairs since Rausch and Ryan. The way we engage our audience has changed significantly over the years as well – our printed publication has been replaced by an e-zine, supplemented with the website, newsletters, videos, podcasts, editorial guides, and our first major event shamelessly plugged above. But regardless of the names on the door or whether we're producing ink or electrons, the staff at Lightwave has done its best to chronicle what the optical communications industry has done with the opportunity described on the very first page Lightwave published. We look forward to the future, but first let's take a look back…
Archived Lightwave Issues