William Carl Lineberger (born December 5, 1939) is an American chemist. A native of

Hamlet, North Carolina Hamlet is a city in Richmond County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 6,042 at the 2020 census. History The area in Richmond County which presently includes Hamlet was originally known as Sandhills. The Wilmington, Charlotte & ...

, William Carl Lineberger was born to parents Caleb Henry and Evelyn Pelot Cooper Lineberger on December 5, 1939. His mother was a former teacher and his father was a railroad worker. Through his mother, Lineberger is of

French Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Bez ...

descent. As a child, Lineberger was a

Boy Scout A Scout (in some countries a Boy Scout, Girl Scout, or Pathfinder) is a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement. Because of the large age and development span, many Scouting associations have split ...

and made

Eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...

rank. After completing his bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees at the

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

, Lineberger began teaching at his alma mater, leaving for a research position at the U. S. Army Ballistic Research Laboratory and later the

Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics JILA, formerly known as the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics, is a physical science research institute in the United States. JILA is located on the University of Colorado Boulder campus. JILA was founded in 1962 as a joint institute of ...

. The

University of Colorado at Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado sys ...

, one of two joint operators of JILA, hired Lineberger as an assistant professor in 1970. He was named E. U. Condon Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at the University of Colorado in 1985. Over the course of his career, Lineberger has received several awards. Among them are: the Herbert P. Broida Prize (1981) awarded by the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of k ...

, the Earle K. Plyler Prize for Molecular Spectroscopy (1992),

Irving Langmuir Award The Irving Langmuir Prize in Chemical Physics is awarded annually, in even years by the American Chemical Society and in odd years by the American Physical Society. The award is meant to recognize and encourage outstanding interdisciplinary resear ...

(1996) and

Peter Debye Award The Peter Debye Award in Physical Chemistry is awarded annually by the American Chemical Society "to encourage and reward outstanding research in physical chemistry". The award is named after Peter Debye and granted without regard to age or natio ...

(2004) of the

American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all d ...

, and the William F. Meggers Award in Spectroscopy (1989) from the

Optical Society of America Optica (formerly known as The Optical Society (OSA) and before that as the Optical Society of America) is a professional society of individuals and companies with an interest in optics and photonics. It publishes journals and organizes conference ...

. Lineberger received the

NAS Award in Chemical Sciences The National Academy of Sciences Award in Chemical Sciences is awarded for innovative research in the chemical sciences that in the broadest sense contributes to a better understanding of the natural sciences and to the benefit of humanity. Reci ...

in 2015. Linberger is a member of the

as well as the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

(1983) and

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

(1995). He is a fellow of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

and the

(1973). From 2011 to 2016, Lineberger served on the

National Science Board The National Science Board (NSB) of the United States establishes the policies of the National Science Foundation (NSF) within the framework of applicable national policies set forth by the President and the Congress. The NSB also serves as an ind ...

and was nominated for a second term by

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

in 2016.

References

External links

NSF
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lineberger, William Carl 1939 births Living people 20th-century American chemists 21st-century American chemists University of Colorado faculty University of Colorado Boulder faculty Georgia Tech alumni People from Hamlet, North Carolina Fellows of the American Physical Society Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences American people of French descent