Emery L. Moore

Former SPIE President and SPIE Fellow Member Emery L. Moore passed away on 13 September. He was 86 years old. A well-known physicist and engineer, Moore's particular areas of expertise included inertial navigation, acoustic arrays, fiber optic sensors, and avionics.

Highly engaged with the optics and SPIE community, Emery, together with Tina Kidger and Chris Dainty, published Michael Kidger's Atomic Physics Notes with SPIE Press in 2024. He also authored multiple SPIE conference proceedings from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s and, during that time, was a frequent SPIE conference chair, particularly for events focusing on fiber-optic systems. His years of involvement led him to serve as the Society's president in 1990, where he was instrumental in developing and establishing the Society's professional relationships in Poland, the USSR, and the People's Republic of China.

Moore, who began his career as a systems engineer, had more than 40 years of experience in systems engineering, test engineering, R&D management, aerospace business development and field office management for large corporations. He spent two years of active duty in the United States Navy aboard USS Forrestal during which he completed a six-month tour in the Mediterranean. His professional work began at North American Aviation where he worked on inertial navigation systems for both the Minuteman Missile and then ballistic missile submarines.

Subsequently, Moore was employed as Advanced Technical Director at Litton Guidance and Navigation Systems Division. While at Litton - now Northrop Grumman - Emery led an R&D effort to develop a Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Gyroscope under contract to the United States Air Force Office of Scientific Research. He managed Litton's effort to develop fiber-optic acoustic sensors for the United States Navy, culminating in the award of three fiber-optic acoustic sensor patents, one of which is now part of the wide-aperture array aboard United States Navy attack submarines. Moore retired from Litton Systems in 1999.

More recently, Moore has had business-development experience in military fiber-optic communications, fiber-optic switches, ATM multiplexers, and MPEG video CODEC's and was the technical director at Kidger Optics Associates.

Born on 11 August 1939 to William and Annamae Lightner Moore of Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, Moore had a sister, Elizabeth. He held a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, and his PhD in physics from Pennsylvania State University; he earned a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California.

Before he died, Moore, together with his wife Tina Kidger, established the Kidger-Moore Distinguished Professorship in Optics at the University of Rochester, New York. Moore's legacy lives on.

A Memorial Service to Honor and Celebrate his life will be held on Sunday, October 19, 2025 at 4:30 PM at Christ Church, 141 East Avenue, Rochester, NY 14604. A Reception will follow the service as an opportunity to greet the family. Interment will be held privately.