| 1 | Name: | Dr. William F. Brinkman | |
| Institution: | United States Department of Energy | ||
| Year Elected: | 2002 | ||
| Class: | 1. Mathematical and Physical Sciences | ||
| Subdivision: | 103. Engineering | ||
| Residency: | Resident | ||
| Living? : | Living | ||
| Birth Date: | 1938 | ||
William F. Brinkman received a Ph.D. in physics at the University of Missouri in 1965. He joined Bell Laboratories in 1966 after spending one year as an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow at Oxford University. In 1972, he became head of the Infrared Physics and Electronics Research Department, and in 1974 he became the director of the Chemical Physics Research Laboratory. He held the position of director of the Physical Research Laboratory from 1981 until moving to Sandia in 1984. He returned to Bell Laboratories in 1987 to become executive director of the Physics Research Division. In 1993 he became Physical Sciences Research Vice President, and in January 2000 became Vice President, Research. He retired from this position in September 2001. He then served as president of the American Physical Society and senior research associate in the Department of Physics at Princeton University until June 2009 when he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as Director of the Office of Science in the United States Department of Energy. Overseeing the nation's research programs in fusion energy sciences and nuclear and high-energy physics, the Office is the country's single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences. He retired from the position in 2013. William Brinkman's personal research covered materials classes of great engineering significance such as metals, semiconductors, superconductors and liquid crystals. He contributed significantly in the understanding of correlated electron motion, electron-hole liquid formation, exotic superfluid states and defects in liquid crystals. His technical leadership for the development of Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) for high capacity communications systems and optical fiber fabrication has revolutionized long distance transmission. He has chaired many committees shaping the national policy for technology development and science. A contribution of singular importance is the 8 volume 1986 NRC "Brinkman Report" on the status of physics. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, and the American Physical Society. He was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society in 2002. | |||