Janusz S Wilczynski earned a master's degree in physics in 1957 at Jagellonian University in Poland, and received a Ph.D. in physics and optics from Imperial College, London, in 1961. The following year, he joined the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center. He received OSA’s David Richardson Medal in 1988 “for contributions to the design and utilization of optics suitable for the manufacturing of semiconductors.” He was elected a Fellow of OSA in 1972.