Mark Fairchild Headshot

Mark Fairchild

Professor

Color Science Program
College of Science

585-475-7189
Office Hours
E-Mail for Appointment
Office Location
Office Mailing Address
Munsell Color Science Laboratory Rochester Institute of Technology One Lomb Memorial Drive Rochester, NY 14

Mark Fairchild

Professor

Color Science Program
College of Science

Education

BS, MS, Rochester Institute of Technology; MA, Ph.D., University of Rochester

Bio

Dr. Fairchild has been a faculty member in the Program of Color Science / Munsell Color Science Laboratory since 1986 and achieved the rank of Professor in 1999 and was named an RIT Distinguished Professor in 2024. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Imaging Science from R.I.T. and Ph.D. in Vision Science from the University of Rochester. He also serves as the Director of the Ph.D. Program of Color Science and Munsell Color Science Laboratory, roles he held from 1996-2007 and 2013-present. He is author or co-author of over 300 technical publications in color and imaging sciences and the books, Color Appearance Models, 3rd Ed. (2013), which serves as a reference to the fundamentals of color appearance and the formulation of specific models and the Handbook of Color Psychology (2015) as well as 3 websites related to color and science education. He has received 8 best-paper awards from various conferences. He has supervised the graduate research of 59 M.S. or Ph.D. students. Mark has been actively involved in externally-sponsored research at RIT for over 30 years, working with both corporate and government sponsors. He has taught a wide variety of undergraduate and graduate courses in imaging and color science. His current research interests include studies of individual differences in color perception, system and visual performance for high-dynamic-range, wide-color-gamut, displays along with the measurement and modeling of color appearance in wine. He served as Color Imaging Editor for IS&T's Journal of Imaging Science and Technology for 3 years and was named a Fellow of IS&T (the Society for Imaging Science and Technology) in 2003 for his contributions to digital color imaging. Mark was presented with the 1995 Bartleson Award by the Colour Group (Great Britain) and the 2002 Macbeth Award by the Inter-Society Color Council for his research work in color appearance and other areas of color science.In 2007, Mark was presented with the Davies Medal by the Royal Photographic Society for his contributions to photography in the digital field of imaging science. He received the 2008 IS&T Raymond C. Bowman award for excellence in imaging education. In 2010 he was named Senior Member and in 2012 Fellow of OSA (The Optical Society). Also in 2012 he also received the Science Divulgation Award from the University of Granada for his work to bring science concepts to children through concepts of color. He was chair of CIE Technical Committee 1-34 on color appearance models, is currently participating in several other CIE technical committees dealing with color appearance and image technology issues. Mark is an active member of IS&T, ISCC, CORM, CIE-USA, OSA, SID, and ACM-SIGGRAPH. As Founding Head of the Integrated Sciences Academy in RIT's College of Science, his role is to facilitate the growth and strengthening of the college's multidisciplinary academic and research programs, Color Science amongst them.


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Areas of Expertise

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Published Conference Proceedings
Shen, Che and Mark D. Fairchild. "Equalization of appearance using individualized unique hues." Proceedings of the IS&T Electronic Imaging 2024. Ed. IS&T. San Francisco, CA: n.p., Print.
Hellwig, L. and M.D. Fairchild. "Revising CAM16-UCS." Proceedings of the IS&T 30th Color and Imaging Conference. Ed. IS&T. Scottsdale, AZ: n.p., Print.
Shen, C. and M.D. Fairchild. "Weighted geometric mean (WGM) method: A new chromatic adaptation model." Proceedings of the IS&T 30th Color and Imaging Conference. Ed. IS&T. Scottsdale, AZ: n.p., Print.
Peer Reviewed/Juried Poster Presentation or Conference Paper
Hellwig, L. and M.D. Fairchild. "Chromatic adaptation to heterochromatic illumination." Proceedings of the Optica Fall Vision Meetin. Ed. Optica. Rochester, NY: n.p..
Xie, H. and M.D. Fairchild. "Isolating saturation and hue for equally bright colors." Proceedings of the VSS 2022. Ed. VSS. St. Pete Beach, FL: n.p..
Shen, C., et al. "Measuring display observer metamerism." Proceedings of the Computer Graphics International 2022. Ed. CGI. Geneva, Switzerland: n.p..
Journal Paper
Shen, C., et al. "Measuring display observer metamerism." The Visual Computer 38. (2022): 3301-3310. Print.
Hellwig, L., D. Stolitzka, and M.D. Fairchild. "Extending CIECAM02 and CAM16 for the Helmholtz-Kohlrausch Effect." Color Research and Application 47. (2022): 1096-1104. Print.
Hellwig, L. and M.D. Fairchild. "Brightness, lightness, colorfulness, and chroma in CIECAM02 and CAM16." Color Research and Application 47. (2022): 1083-1095. Print.
Invited Article/Publication
Fairchild, Mark D., Fu Jiang, and Hao Xie. "Perception in HDR and displays." Information Display. (2021). Print.
Fairchild, M.D. "Curious Kids: How do my Eyes Adjust to the Dark and How Long does it Take?" The Conversation. (2019). Web.
Fairchild, Mark. "Individual Differences in Color Matching and Adaptation: Importance in Lighting." Light + Color: IES Research Symposium III. (2016). Print.
Invited Keynote/Presentation
Fairchild, M.D. "Munsell’s Legacy: Foundation and Laboratory." ISCC-AIC Munsell Centennial Color Symposium. ISCC. Boston, MA. 15 Jun. 2018. Keynote Speech.
Fairchild, M.D. "One Wine Many Colors." IS&T 26th Color & Imaging Conference. IS&T. Vancouver, BC. 16 Nov. 2018. Keynote Speech.
Fairchild, M.D. "Color scales." X National Congress of Color. Spanish Color Committee. Valencia, Spain. 27 Jun. 2013. Keynote Speech.
Shows/Exhibits/Installations
Fairchild, M.D. Opponency - Red Spruce Cone Bud. n.d. Munsell Symposium, Boston. Exhibit.
Invited Paper
Fairchild, M.D. "Individual Differences in Color Matching & Adaptation and Illumination." OSA Fall Vision Meeting. (2017). Web.
Fairchild, M.D. "Color Perception: Contexts and Individuals." American Glass Guild Proceedings. (2017). Print.
Book Chapter
Fairchild, Mark. "Joseph William Lovibond." Encyclopedia of Color Science & Technology. London, UK: Springer, 2016. 1-1. Print.
Published Review
Fairchild, Mark. "Spotlight Summary of “Method to Determine Degrees of Consistency in Experimental Datasets of Perceptual Color Differences”." Rev. of Method to Determine Degrees of Consistency in Experimental Datasets of Perceptual Color Differences, ed. OSA. OSA Spotlight on Optics 2016: 1-1. Web.
Full Length Book
Elliott, A., M.D. Fairchild, and A. Franklin. Handbook of Color Psychology. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2015. Print.
Fairchild, Mark D. The Color Curiosity Shop. Honeoye Falls, NY: MDF Publications, 2011. Print.
Published Article
Kuang, J., R.L. Heckaman, and M.D. Fairchild. “Evaluation of HDR tone mapping algorithms using a high-dynamic-range display to emulate realscenes.” Journal of the Society of Information Display, 18 (2010): 461-468. Print. £
Katayama, andM.D. Fairchild. “Quantitative evaluation ofperceived whiteness based on a color vision model.” Color Research and Application, 35 (2010): 410-418. Print. £
Johnson, G.M., X. Song, E.D. Montag and M.D. Fairchild, M.D. “Derivation of a color space for image color difference measurement.” Color Research and Application, 35 (2010): 387-400. Print. £

Currently Teaching

CLRS-790
1 - 6 Credits
Masters-level research by the candidate on an appropriate topic as arranged between the candidate and the research advisor.
CLRS-820
3 Credits
This course presents the transition from the measurement of color matches and differences to the description and measurement of color appearance in complex visual stimuli. This seminar course is based mainly on review and student-led discussion of primary references. Topics include: appearance terminology, appearance phenomena, viewing conditions, chromatic adaptation, color appearance modeling, image appearance, image quality, and material appearance.
CLRS-890
1 - 6 Credits
Masters-level research by the candidate on an appropriate topic as arranged between the candidate and the research advisor.

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