Judith F. Donnelly is an American physics educator specializing in optics and photonics education, and known for pushing education in those subjects into the secondary school and community college curricula. [1] She is retired as a professor emerita from Three Rivers Community College in Norwich, Connecticut. [2]
Donnelly was an undergraduate at Tufts University. She received a master's degree from the University of Connecticut. [3]
She began teaching physics at Three Rivers Community College in approximately 1978. [2] After teaching classical physics "for many years", [4] she began teaching photonics there in 1995, [4] [5] and in 1997 she founded an associate degree program in laser and fiber optic technology. [3] [5] She later led an annual Laser Camp program for high school students. [6] She retired as a professor emerita in 2014. [2]
Donnelly is a coauthor of the textbooks Light: Introduction to Optics and Photonics (with Nicholas M. Massa, New England Board of Higher Education, 2007; 2nd edition, Photonics Media, 2018), and Exploring Light – Investigations for Optics Education (with Nancy Magnani, SPIE Press / John Wiley & Sons, 2nd edition, 2025).
Donnelly was the inaugural recipient of the SPIE María J. Yzuel Educator Award, in 2003. [7] She was the 2012 recipient of the Esther Hoffman Beller Medal, awarded annually by Optica for outstanding contributions to optics education. [3]
She was named as a Fellow of Optica in 2012, "for outstanding dedication to engaging middle, high school and college students in optical science and engineering education", [1] and is also a Fellow of SPIE. [2]