 In 1980 he moved to Tucson, Arizona to become a professor at the Optical Sciences Center at the University of Arizona.Here he founded the "Optical Circuitry Cooperative" in 1984, which conducted research relevant to optical processing, funded jointly by industry leaders in optics and optoelectronics.He remained its director until 1991 when the role was given to his collaborator, Dr. Nasser Peyghambarian.