Johannes Petrus "Han" Woerdman (29 November 1942 – 18 August 2020) was a Dutch physicist. He was a researcher at Philips Natuurkundig Laboratorium and later professor at Leiden University.
Woerdman was born on 29 November 1942 in Laren, North Holland. [1] In 1968 he started working at Philips Natuurkundig Laboratorium. [2] He obtained his PhD in mathematics at the University of Amsterdam in 1971 under Andries Rinse Miedema with a thesis titled: "Some optical and electrical properties of a laser-generated free-carrier plasma in Si." [3] In 1983 he left Philips and was appointed professor of experimental physics at Leiden University. [1]
At Leiden University Woerdman performed research into lasers and optics, specializing in classical optics. [2] He was responsible for building the field of quantum optics at the University. [4] In 2020 one of the articles he contributed to in 1992 was chosen as one of three classics of Physical Review A. [5]
Woerdman was elected a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2002. [6] In 2007 he was named a Fellow of the European Optical Society. [7] [8] In 2010 he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, which caused his death on 18 August 2020 at the age of 77. [2]