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{{Short description|American physicist (born 1948)}}
{{Redirect|William D. Phillips|the chemist and spectroscopist|William Dale Phillips}}
{{Infobox scientist
| image             = William D. Phillips.jpg
| caption           = Phillips at the 2012 [[Nobel Laureate Meetings at Lindau|Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting]]
| birth_date        = {{Birth date and age|1948|11|5}}
| birth_place       = [[Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania]], U.S.
| fields            = [[Physics]]
| workplaces        = [[National Institute of Standards and Technology|NIST]]<br />[[University of Maryland, College Park]]
| alma_mater        = [[Juniata College]]<br />[[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]]
| known_for         = [[Laser cooling]]
| awards            = [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] (1997)
| doctoral_advisor  = [[Daniel Kleppner]]
}}
'''William Daniel Phillips''' (born November 5, 1948) is an American [[physicist]]. He shared the [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] in 1997 with [[Steven Chu]] and [[Claude Cohen-Tannoudji]].

==Biography==
[[File:Nobel_Prize_laureate_Bill_Phillips_greets_his_college_physics_professor,_Dr._Wilfred_Norris,_at_Juniata_College.jpg|thumb|Bill Phillips greets his college physics professor, Dr. Wilfred Norris, in 2025 – 55 years after graduation]]
Phillips was born on November 5, 1948, in [[Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania]], to William Cornelius Phillips of Juniata, Pennsylvania, and Mary Catherine Savino of [[Ripacandida]], Italy. He is of Italian descent on his mother's side and of [[Welsh people|Welsh]] descent on his father's side.<ref>{{Nobelprize|access-date=29 April 2020}}</ref> His parents moved to [[Camp Hill, Pennsylvania|Camp Hill]] (near [[Harrisburg, Pennsylvania]]) in 1959, where he attended [[Camp Hill High School|high school]] and graduated valedictorian of his class in 1966. He graduated from [[Juniata College]] in 1970 ''[[summa cum laude]]''. After that he received his physics doctorate from the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]]. In 1978, he joined [[NIST|National Bureau of Standards]] (currently NIST).

In 1996, he received the [[Albert A. Michelson Medal]] from [[The Franklin Institute]].<ref name="MichelsonMedal_Laureates">{{cite web |url=http://www.fi.edu/winners/show_results.faw?gs=&ln=&fn=&keyword=&subject=&award=MICH+&sy=1967&ey=1997&name=Submit |title=Franklin Laureate Database – Albert A. Michelson Medal Laureates |publisher=[[Franklin Institute]] |access-date=June 16, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120406103546/http://www.fi.edu/winners/show_results.faw?gs=&ln=&fn=&keyword=&subject=&award=MICH+&sy=1967&ey=1997&name=Submit |archive-date=April 6, 2012 }}</ref>

Phillips's doctoral thesis concerned the magnetic moment of the proton in H<sub>2</sub>O. He later did some work with [[Bose–Einstein condensate]]s. In 1997 he won the [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] together with [[Claude Cohen-Tannoudji]] and [[Steven Chu]] for his contributions to [[laser cooling]], a technique to slow the movement of gaseous atoms in order to better study them, at the [[National Institute of Standards and Technology]], and especially for his invention of the [[Zeeman slower]].

Phillips is also a professor of physics, which is part of the [[University of Maryland College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences]] at [[University of Maryland, College Park]].

Phillips is one of the 20 American recipients of the Nobel Prize in Physics to sign a letter addressed to President [[George W. Bush]] in May 2008, urging him to "reverse the damage done to basic science research in the Fiscal Year 2008 Omnibus Appropriations Bill" by requesting additional emergency funding for the [[United States Department of Energy|Department of Energy]]’s [[Office of Science]], the [[National Science Foundation]], and the [[National Institute of Standards and Technology]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=A Letter from America's Physics Nobel Laureates|url=https://fire.pppl.gov/nobel_bush_fy08_050808.pdf}}</ref>

He was one of the 35 Nobel laureates who signed a letter urging President Obama to provide a stable $15 billion per year support for clean energy research, technology and demonstration.<ref>[https://fas.org/press/_docs/Nobelist%20Letter%20to%20White%20House%20-%2007162009.pdf Open Letter to President Obama] (PDF). {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111201181805/https://fas.org/press/_docs/Nobelist%20Letter%20to%20White%20House%20-%2007162009.pdf|date=December 1, 2011}}. Retrieved on 2012-01-28.</ref>

He is one of three well-known scientists and [[Methodist]] laity who have involved themselves in the [[religion and science]] dialogue. The other two scientists and fellow Methodists are chemist [[Charles Coulson]] and 1981 Nobel laureate [[Arthur Leonard Schawlow]].{{citation needed|date=March 2012}}

In October 2010, Phillips participated in the [[USA Science and Engineering Festival]]'s lunch with a laureate program where middle and high school students got to engage in an informal conversation with a Nobel Prize-winning scientist over a brown-bag lunch.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.usasciencefestival.org/2010festival/schoolprograms/lunchwithalaureate |title=Lunch with a Laureate |access-date=2010-12-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620180756/http://www.usasciencefestival.org/2010festival/schoolprograms/lunchwithalaureate |archive-date=June 20, 2010 }}. usasciencefestival.org (2010)</ref> Phillips is also a member of the USA Science and Engineering Festival's advisory board.<ref>[http://www.usasciencefestival.org/about/advisors Advisors] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100421005310/http://www.usasciencefestival.org/about/advisors/ |date=2010-04-21 }}. Usasciencefestival.org. Retrieved on 2012-01-28.</ref>

Phillips has served as a member, and later as an associated member, on the Commission on Symbols, Units, Nomenclature, Atomic Masses and Fundamental Constants (C2) of the [[International Union of Pure and Applied Physics]] from 2011 to 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |last=C2 |first=C2 |date=2021-03-05 |title=C2: Commission Members 2025-2027 - IUPAP: The International Union of Pure and Applied Physics |url=https://iupap.org/who-we-are/internal-organization/commissions/c2-commission-on-symbols-units-nomenclature-atomic-masses-and-fundamental-constants/c2-commission-members/ |access-date=2025-01-16 |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Awards and honors ==
[[File:The_Phillips_Lobby_at_Juniata_College_in_Huntingdon,_Pennsylvania,_honors_physicist_Bill_Phillips.jpg|thumb|The Phillips Lobby at Juniata College in [[Huntingdon, Pennsylvania]]]]
Phillips has been awarded numerous honors.

* Outstanding Young Scientist Award of the Maryland Academy of Sciences, 1982.
* Silver Medal of the Department of Commerce, 1983
* [[Samuel Wesley Stratton Award]] of the National Bureau of Standards, 1987
* [[Arthur S. Flemming Award]] of the Washington Downtown Jaycees, 1988
* Gold Medal of the Dept. of Commerce, 1993.
* Elected Fellow of The Optical Society, 1994
* Election to American Academy of Arts and Sciences 1995
* Election as a NIST Fellow, 1995
* Michelson Medal of the Franklin Institute 1996
* Election to the [[National Academy of Sciences]] 1997
* [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] 1997 
* [[Arthur L. Schawlow Prize in Laser Science]] (APS) 1998
* Golden Plate Award of the [[Academy of Achievement|American Academy of Achievement]] 1999<ref>{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url=https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#science-exploration}}</ref>
* Richtmeyer Award of the Am. Assoc. of Physics Teachers 2000
* Election to the European Academy of Arts, Sciences and Humanities (titular member), 2000
* Appointed an Academician of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences 2004. 
* Elected Honorary Member of [[Optica (society)|The Optical Society]] in 2004 
* [[Presidential Rank Awards|Presidential Rank Award]], 2005 
* Service to America Award – Career Achievement - 2006
* Honorary Liveryman of the [[Worshipful Company of Scientific Instrument Makers]]

==Personal life==
{{BLP unreferenced section|date=October 2022}}
Phillips married Jane Van Wynen shortly before he went to MIT. Neither had been regular churchgoers early in their marriage. However, in 1979, they joined the Fairhaven [[United Methodist Church]] in [[Gaithersburg, Maryland]] because they appreciated its diversity. He is a founding member of the [[International Society for Science and Religion]]. He and his wife have two daughters; Caitlin Phillips (born 1979) who founded Rebound Designs, and Christine Phillips (b 1981) who works in Science Communication.

During a seminar at the University of Maryland Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry titled ''Coherent Atoms in [[Optical lattice|Optical Lattices]]'' Phillips stated, "[[Rubidium]] is God's gift to Bose–Einstein condensates."

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
*{{Nobelprize}} including the Nobel Lecture on December 8, 1997 ''Laser Cooling and Trapping of Neutral Atoms''
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20040610123529/http://physics.nist.gov/News/Nobel/phillipscv.html Curriculum Vitae] from [[NIST]].
*[http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1997/press.html Atoms floating in optical molasses]. Press Release: The 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics-for development of methods to cool and trap atoms with laser light.
*[http://www.asa3.org/asa/newsletter/SEPOCT99.htm "Nobelist William Phillips Addresses ASA '99"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100516090229/http://www.asa3.org/ASA/newsletter/SEPOCT99.htm |date=2010-05-16 }}

{{Nobel Prize in Physics Laureates 1976-2000}}
{{1997 Nobel Prize winners}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, William Daniel}}
[[Category:1948 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science alumni]]
[[Category:American Nobel laureates]]
[[Category:American people of Italian descent]]
[[Category:American optical physicists]]
[[Category:Fellows of Optica (society)]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Physical Society]]
[[Category:People from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:People from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Nobel laureates in Physics]]
[[Category:University of Maryland, College Park faculty]]
[[Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:American scientists]]
[[Category:American United Methodists]]
[[Category:Converts to Methodism]]
[[Category:20th-century Methodists]]
[[Category:21st-century Methodists]]
[[Category:People associated with IUPAP]]