diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index 35c62b03b..5a4d2e7af 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -1,6 +1,24 @@
 # Meep Release Notes
 
-## Meep 1.16.0-alpha
+## Meep 1.16.0
+
+10/6/2020
+
+* Gaussian beam source feature (#1303 and #1310).
+
+* New API for specifying planewave diffraction orders for eigenmode sources
+  and coefficients (#1316).
+
+* More accurate gradients in adjoint code (#1285).
+
+* Simpler Python API for outputting ε or μ at a given frequency (#1374).
+
+* `--with-libctl-dir` option of `configure` now accepts simply the installation `prefix` in addition to `prefix/share/libctl` (#1286).
+
+* Less verbose mode-solver output from MPB (#1302, #1388), and new
+  `meep.verbosity` option in Python (#1349).
+
+* Bug fix for single-point DFT monitor (#1333).
 
 ## Meep 1.15.0
 
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 2e16bffbb..974832503 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1,13 +1,13 @@
 # Process this file with autoconf to produce a configure script.
 
-AC_INIT(meep, m4_esyscmd([./version.sh 1.16.0 alpha]))
+AC_INIT(meep, m4_esyscmd([./version.sh 1.16.0]))
 AC_CONFIG_SRCDIR(src/step.cpp)
 
 # Shared-library version number; indicates api compatibility, and is
 # not the same as the "public" version number.  (Don't worry about this
 # except for public releases.) Note that any change to a C++ class
 # definition (in the .hpp file) generally breaks binary compatibility.
-SHARED_VERSION_INFO="20:0:0" # CURRENT:REVISION:AGE
+SHARED_VERSION_INFO="21:0:0" # CURRENT:REVISION:AGE
 
 AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE([foreign color-tests parallel-tests silent-rules 1.11])
 AM_SILENT_RULES(yes)