2004 Photomicrography Competition

Ellis Rubinstein

President and CEO
New York Academy of Sciences

Mr. Rubinstein is President and CEO of the New York Academy of Sciences. He was previously with the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), where he served as Editor of Science magazine from 1993-2002. Prior to Science, Mr. Rubinstein was Editor of The Scientist; a Senior Editor at Newsweek; and Managing Editor of Science 86 and IEEE Spectrum.

His signal achievement was a Newsweek cover package entitled “The Search for Adam and Eve,” the first general public description of the then novel DNA-tracing of the origins of modern humans in Africa.

Mr. Rubinstein has written several award winning articles including the most complete investigative report of the nuclear power accident at Three Mile Island—the lead article in a special issue he also edited that won a National Magazine Award, the magazine industry’s equivalent to a Pulitzer Prize.

Edward (Ted) Salmon, Ph.D.

James Larkin/Iona Mae Shugard Ballou Professor
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Ted Salmon is a Cell Biologist and Biophysicist whose primary research is directed at understanding the molecular mechanism governing the assembly of spindle microtubules and the segregation of chromosomes during mitosis. He received his Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania in 1973 in Biomedical Electronic Engineering where he used polarization microscopy to study mechanism of mitotic spindle assemble and function in living cells. Since then his laboratory has pioneered the development of video and digital imaging microscopy methods for analysis of molecular and structural dynamics in living cells and in vitro. A recent example is fluorescent speckle microscopy (FSM), a method that uses digital imaging microscopy to measure the polymerization dynamics and motility of the cytoskeleton in living cells. He joined the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1976, where he is currently the James Larkin and Iona Mae Shugard Ballou Professor.

Michael Peres

Chairman of the Biomedical Photographic Communications Department
Rochester Institute of Technology

Chairman of the Biomedical Photographic Communications department at the Rochester Institute of Technology for more than 16 years, Michael Peres is also a Professor in the School of Photographic Arts & Sciences and specializes in photomicrography and biomedical photography.

Mr. Peres has authored numerous publications, presented more than 100 oral papers and conducted imaging workshops all over the world on topics such as digital imaging using the light microscope and the production of QuickTime® VR movies.

He has been a member of Bio-Communications Association for 27 years and a member of the Ophthalmic Photographer’s Society. Mr. Peres was a 2003 recipient of the RIT Eisenhart outstanding faculty award, an award given for outstanding teaching at the University. He also is a past Small World competition winner, placing 12th in 1989.

Michael W. Davidson

Director, Optical and Magneto-Optical Imaging Center at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Florida State University

Michael Davidson is the Director of the Optical and Magneto-Optical Imaging Center at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory at Florida State University. Involved with various aspects of microscopy for over 25 years, Mr. Davidson’s scientific research includes the packaging of DNA into virus heads, liquid crystallinity in biological systems, and the adsorption of small liquid crystal molecules onto surfaces.

Mr. Davidson has authored many scientific articles on the subject of photomicrography. His photomicrographs have been published in more than a thousand national and international scientific journals, popular magazines and newspapers. He has also successfully utilized his expertise in launching two microscopy and photomicrography websites. Before becoming a judge, Davidson won two top ten Small World awards, placing 9th in 1987 and 9th in 1990.