The Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE), together with the Optical Society of America (OSA), and the International Commission for Optics (ICO) will present, in cooperation with the Leningrad Institute of Fine Mechanics and Optics (LIFMO), and the D.S. Rozhdestvensky All-Union Optical Society of the USSR, the 1991 International Conference on Education in Optics in Leningrad, USSR, 28 September - 1 October 1991. The purpose of this conference is to bring optics educators from around the world together in the Soviet Union to share education and training methods in modern optics. The conference intends to establish an on-going forum for the sharing of international and inter-cultural teaching and learning mechanics and philosophies. The project is proposed over a 16-month period beginning November 1990 with its organization and public promotion to its end in February 1992 at the publication and distribution of the conference Proceedings approximately 5 months after the conference. The technical program is organized by academic representatives of international university optics programs and is structured around 19 invited talks by highly respected optics educators. Contributed papers are presently being solicited to supplement the invited program. An exhibit of IBM- and Macintosh-compatible software and displays by university optics programs will complement the technical agenda. The intent of this conference is to further serve the optics community to which SPIE, the OSA, and the ICO are dedicated. The recent changes in world politics present a unique opportunity on all sides to exchange information, to teach and learn, and to further the cause of this branch of science to the benefit of all nations.
