William L. Wilson (Rice University)
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William L. Wilson, known to generations of Rice University students as Dr. Bill, was professor of electrical engineering at Rice University from 1972 and Resident Associate of Wiess College from 1978 until his retirement from Rice in 2006. He also served as interim Master of Wiess in 1983 and in a myriad of formal and informal roles on the Rice campus throughout his teaching career. The keeper of many Wiess traditions, he was arguably the most influential person in the college's history.
A native of Long Island, William L. Wilson Jr. grew up in Princeton, New Jersey, and came to Rice in 1972 after earning his bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in electrical engineering at Cornell University. In 1978 he became a Resident Associate at Wiess College, one of the university's residential colleges. Wiess remained his home until 2006, when Dr. Bill retired to his long-time summer home in Vermont.
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[edit] Research
Dr. Bill was an accomplished researcher in the fields of lasers, electro-optics, and solid state devices and was a member of a free-electron laser group at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Most recently, his lab at Rice investigated new ways to manufacture zinc selenide, a material that can produce blue light as a light-emitting diode and as a laser.
[edit] Teaching
Dr. Bill was a sought-after teacher who taught core undergraduate classes and advanced graduate seminars with equal flair. He has received the university’s two highest teaching awards: the George R. Brown Prize for Excellence in Teaching and the George R. Brown Award for Superior Teaching.
[edit] University Service
[edit] Faculty Committees
Dr. Bill served on countless university committees and as Speaker of the Faculty Council. His special commitment to undergraduate teaching was manifest in his long service as member and chair of the Committee on Undergraduate Curriculum.
[edit] University Marshal
The University Marshals are a standing committee responsible for planning and orchestrating Rice’s most important occasions, including presidential investitures and Commencement. In c. 2002, after many years as Marshal of Wiess, Dr. Bill accepted the post of Chief University Marshal. As Chief Marshal, Dr. Bill relished the ceremonial role of carrying the University Mace, while behind the scenes he devoted himself to the planning and execution of Rice's impressive ceremonies.
[edit] Academic & Organizational Advising
Dr. Bill served as departmental advisor to EE majors; chair of the department’s undergraduate advising committee; and divisional (i.e. science and engineering) advisor to Wiess freshmen.
Dr. Bill was a patient and trusted faculty advisor to two of Rice’s most visible organizations: the Student Association and KTRU. In particular, Dr. Bill guided KTRU during a turbulent time in 2000-2001 when the radio station’s governance was the subject of bitter controversy.
[edit] Student Affairs
In the spring of 1983 Dr. Bill served as interim Master of Wiess at a critical juncture, as the college prepared to accept its first female residents. In 2004, Dr. Bill served as assistant to Associate Vice President for Student Affairs John Hutchinson in the process of formulating the new position of Dean of Undergraduates.
[edit] Neighbor, Mentor and Friend
In nearly three decades of living among Rice students, Dr. Bill was the model of a Resident Associate in the residential college system: friend to all, judgmental of none, always accessible, unfailingly involved, with an uncanny understanding of what to be concerned with and what to overlook.
Dr. Bill was Wiess’s tireless T-shirt maker, theater set designer, story teller, intramural player, host of summer happy hours, and a judicious voice in Cabinet meetings. In an understated way, he managed to keep a particular eye on students who have a hard time fitting in. He never hesitated to lend a hand to a student in need; to open his door to one who felt excluded; or to take a difficult midnight phone call from a concerned parent.
One of Dr. Bill’s greatest contributions to campus life was the sheer length of his RA service, as the President of Wiess College explained in a letter to the campus newspaper:
"Dr. Bill has been a friend to and an advocate for thousands of students. His humility combined with the depth of his service have left an imprint on generations of Wiessmen." -- Jack Hardcastle (Wiess ’06), The Rice Thresher, January 20, 2006
Most visibly, Dr. Bill devoted incomparable time and energy to three aspects of college life:
[edit] Photography
An extraordinarily prolific photographer, Dr. Bill recorded tens of thousands of moments of student life. Every week or two he posted the latest photos in the Wiess Commons – a continuing chronicle of the activities of the students.
Each summer on the first day of Orientation Week, Dr. Bill took a photo of every new Wiessman. He displayed these infamous "freshman mug shots" for the first month of the semester, to help upperclassmen learn the names of the new students. Then the pictures were taken down and apparently forgotten about – until the night before graduation, when the old mug shots of Wiess’s graduating seniors re-appeared in the Wiess Commons.
[edit] College theater
Dr. Bill was the technical mastermind behind over fifty productions of Wiess Tabletop Theater, including the quadrennial musical comedy Hello Hamlet. He directed the sound, lighting, and video recording of these plays. Nearly all of the technical equipment used by Wiess Tabletop was obtained or custom-built by Dr. Bill. His love for college theater extended campus-wide, as Dr. Bill lent his technical aid to dozens of productions at other colleges.
[edit] Student music
A passionate supporter of student music, Dr. Bill lent his technical expertise to record student performers ranging from the Rice Philharmonics to the comedy group Spontaneous Combustion to student bands such as Sprawl (in the 1980s) and Wiess 244 (in the 2000s). In the 1980s Dr. Bill helped create JamFest, a showcase of Rice student bands that has become an annual campus festival.
[edit] Alumni Interaction
Dr. Bill was a human link who tied many alumni to the present college – a tie that he personally fostered through his energetic involvement in events such as Beer-Bike and "Hello Hamlet". He endeavored to make Wiess a place where alumni are an integral part and where interaction between alumni and undergraduates is especially strong – qualities that President Edgar Odell Lovett would have admired.
[edit] Recognition and Tributes
On Beer-Bike day in 1999, Wiess held a celebration to honor Dr. Bill’s 20 years of service as RA. Professor John Hutchinson, then Master of Wiess, noted at the time:
"Bill has the extraordinary capacity to support students in every possible way that a professor might, including as an outstanding teacher, a research supervisor, an academic adviser, an organizer, a co-worker, an assistant, a mentor, a counselor and a friend. The number of students he has influenced through his work with student organizations is staggering. Rice University and Wiess would not be the great student institutions that they are if not for Bill Wilson." --Rice News, April 8, 1999.
One aspect of that occasion served as a further example of Dr. Bill’s devotion to Rice students. Alumni from around the world contributed funds for a gift in Dr. Bill’s honor, to be used however he wished. This tireless and selfless friend used these monies to establish the Dr. Bill Wilson Student Initiative Fund, which currently provides grants of up to $5500 per year for innovative projects to improve student activities or campus life at Rice.
Those sentiments were no less true in 2006, when (again on Beer-Bike day) hundreds of Wiess alumni joined with the entire college to honor Dr. Bill's long and memorable service to the College.
A few months before his retirement, the President of Wiess College wrote a public tribute to Dr. Bill:
"Bill Wilson is one of the most energetic and involved individuals on this campus. Beyond his duties as a professor, he has been an outstanding resident associate, a theater technician, a sound engineer, assistant dean of students, chief warden and a great friend to many of us. He has dozens if not hundreds of stories he is reluctant to share of his personal involvement with students on all levels, in all matters. He has gone to the mat for students in trouble, and he watches out for us every single day." -- Jack Hardcastle (Wiess ’06), The Rice Thresher, January 20, 2006
