William Happer
| William Happer | |
|---|---|
Happer in 2016
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| Born |
July 27, 1939 Vellore, British India |
| Fields | Atomic physics |
| Institutions | Princeton University |
| Alma mater | Princeton University |
| Thesis | Frequency shifts in atomic beams resonances (1964) |
| Doctoral students | John Farley |
| Known for | Optical pumping, atomic physics |
| Notable awards | Davisson-Germer Prize in Atomic or Surface Physics |
William "Will" Happer (born July 27, 1939) is an American physicist who has specialized in the study of atomic physics, optics and spectroscopy. He is the Cyrus Fogg Brackett Professor of Physics, Emeritus, at Princeton University, and a long-term member of the JASON advisory group, where he pioneered the development of adaptive optics. From 1991 to 1993, Happer served as director of the Department of Energy's Office of Science as part of the George HW Bush administration.
Happer was born in Vellore, British India, the son of Dr. William Happer, a Scottish medical officer in the Indian Army, and Dr. Gladys Morgan Happer, a medical missionary for the Lutheran Church of North Carolina. Happer spent the years of World War II with his mother in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. After the war and a return to India, his family emigrated to North Carolina.
He studied physics at the University of North Carolina, graduating in 1960. He earned his doctorate at Princeton University in 1964.
His academic career started at Columbia University, where he became a full professor and director of the Columbia Radiation Laboratory. In 1980, he left to go to Princeton, where he became Class of 1990 Professor of Physics. In 1991, he joined the United States Department of Energy, where he was the director of its research budget of $3 billion. In 1993, he returned to his position at Princeton, where he became the chair of the University Research Board in 1995.
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