Jorge J. Rocca (M’80-SM’85-F’00) is a University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Department of Physics. He received his B.S. in physics from the University of Rosario and his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Colorado State University. His research focuses on the physics and development of compact soft-ray lasers and their applications, the development of high-power lasers, and the study of high intensity laser-matter interactions. In all, he has published more than 300 peer-reviewed journal articles on these topics.

Rocca was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2024. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the American Physical Society and OPTICA – previously known as the Optical Society of America. Early in his career he was selected as a National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator. He also received the Arthur L. Schawlow Prize in Laser Science from the APS and the Willis E. Lamb Award for Laser Science and Quantum Optics. In 2020, Rocca was the first-ever CSU faculty member to receive the Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship from the U.S. Department of Defense to conduct basic research in ultra-high field nanophotonics.

Rocca also served as the first elected chair of LaserNetUS – a user network of many of the most powerful lasers in North America, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.