William E. Spicer and Sebastian Doniach

On June 6, 2004 while vacationing in London, William E. (Bill) Spicer died of heart failure. Overcoming a series of obstacles as a youth, Bill went on to become an esteemed member of the international scientific community as a teacher and researcher in electrical engineering, applied physics and materials science. He spent the past 40 years as a professor at Stanford where he pioneered the technique of ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy and its subsequent expansion into the use of synchrotron radiation.

In 1972, Bill together with Sebastian Doniach founded the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Project which evolved into today's SSRL. He was a prolific author with over 700 works and the recipient of many honors and awards including the Lifetime Mentor Award by the AAAS in 2000, reflecting his tireless effort on the behalf of under-represented minorities and women. Though retired for some years, Bill continued to actively advise students at SSRL up until his death.

In honor of his many contributions, professional and personal, to our community, SSRL has established the W.E. Spicer Award for scientific excellence to be awarded annually to a young scientist. The Spicer Award will be presented at the annual SSRL users' meeting to a young investigator who has made important technical or scientific contributions that benefit from or are beneficial to SSRL or the synchrotron community. The award, which is open to senior graduate students and those within seven years of entry into their professional scientific field at the time of nomination, will consist of a certificate and $1,000. Nomination details, deadlines, and previous winners' names are available on the award page.

Anyone interested in making a donation towards the W.E. Spicer Award can do so by sending a check made out to "Stanford University" to SSRL c/o Dave Dungan, SSRL MS69, 2575 Sand Hill Rd., Menlo Park, CA 94025. Please note "Spicer Award" on the memo line.