The NY/NJ Society for Applied Spectroscopy is honored to present Dr. Richard Crocombe, Crocombe Spectroscopic Consulting, the Gold Medal Award in 2026.  

Since his arrival in the US for a postdoc position at the University of Knoxville, Dr. Crocombe has helped bring numerous instrument concepts from the research stage into reality. His early work at Axsun, Thermo Fisher Scientific, and PerkinElmer led to major developments in their business strategies. In addition to benchtop instrumentation development, Dr. Crocombe has carved out a niche for himself in portable and handheld spectroscopy. Since 2017, he has been working as an independent consultant focused on portable, handheld, and miniature instrument development, commercialization, and market strategy.

In addition, Dr. Crocombe has also dedicated much of his time to helping and advocating for the spectroscopy community at large. He has been a co-chair of SPIE’s “Next Generation Spectroscopic Technologies” for over ten years and is a Fellow of the SAS, having served as SAS president in 2020. Crocombe was the driving force behind the creation of the “Early Career” membership category at SAS, making it easier for those starting their careers to benefit from joining the society. He was also the inaugural editor-in-chief of Applied Spectroscopy Practica, a journal useful to spectroscopists in industry, government, and academia alike