William L. McMillan (January 13, 1936 – August 30, 1984) was an American

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

noted for his research of condensed matter physics. Physics Illinois:Memorials:William L. McMillan
/ref> National Academies Press:Biographical Memoirs:V.81:WILLIAM L. MCMILLAN, BY P. W. ANDERSON
/ref> Array of contemporary Physicists:William L. McMillan
/ref> McMillan was a member of the National Academy of Sciences, Professor of Physics at

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the Flagship#Colleges and universities in ...

. He was also a member of the

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, a ...

McMillan received the 1978

Fritz London Memorial Prize The Fritz London Memorial Prize was created to recognize scientists who made outstanding contributions to the advances of the field of Low Temperature Physics. It is traditionally awarded in the first session of the International Conference on Lo ...

for his work in superconductors. The National Academies Press called him "the ablest

condensed matter Condensed matter physics is the field of physics that deals with the macroscopic and microscopic physical properties of matter, especially the solid and liquid phases which arise from electromagnetic forces between atoms. More generally, the su ...

physicist of his generation". The

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...

established an award in his name: The William L. McMillan Award.University of Illinois:Winners of the McMillan Award
/ref> The electron-phonon coupling in superconductors is described by the McMillan parameter.

Life and career

* 1936 born in Little Rock, Arkansas * 1958: BS,

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

(Electrical Engineering) * 1959: MS,

(Physics) * 1964: PhD,

* 1964–1972:

Bell Laboratories Nokia Bell Labs, originally named Bell Telephone Laboratories (1925–1984), then AT&T Bell Laboratories (1984–1996) and Bell Labs Innovations (1996–2007), is an American industrial research and scientific development company owned by mult ...

, Member, Technical Staff * 1972–1984:

, Professor of Physics * 1978

for his work on superconductors * 1982: elected to National Academy of Sciences * 1983: elected to the

in 1983 * 1984: Died of an accident at age 48

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McMillan, William L. 1936 births 1984 deaths 20th-century American physicists University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Scientists at Bell Labs Fellows of the American Physical Society Cycling road incident deaths Road incident deaths in Illinois