“Adaptation isn’t just about surviving change – it’s about learning to thrive through it.”
About
As a physicist, I spent decades studying light and guiding students through their own discoveries. Today, I write with that same sense of wonder, tracing the connections between knowledge, creativity, and what it means to be human.
SUMMARY
William Colson began his professional career at the Bendix Research Laboratory where he was awarded the Bendix Corporation Graduate Fellowship to attend Stanford University, earning a PhD in Physics, and beginning a lifelong fascination studying photons, relativistic electrons, and lasers, continuing over six decades.
As Distinguished Professor of Physics for twenty-five years at the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA, Bill combined teaching and research while thesis advisor to nearly one-hundred Masters and PhD students, guiding them through their own discoveries. He served as Principal Investigator on more than eighty research contracts, published over one-hundred refereed research papers, holds five patents, and has given more than one-hundred invited lectures throughout the U.S., Asia, and Europe to further the understanding of laser science.
In recognition during his career, Bill received the International Free-Electron Laser Prize from the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Laser and Electro-Optic Society and became a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. At retirement, he was given Emeritus status and was awarded the U.S. Navy Superior Civilian Service Medal, the highest award the Navy may bestow on a civilian employee.
After retirement, Bill’s activities expanded to include writing. He has co-authored “The Interview” with Award-Winning poet Peter Thabit Jones of Swansea, Wales, published in the “Seventh Quarry Swansea Poetry Magazine,” Issue Twenty-Four, 2016, and was a co-presenter for “Building Bridges Between Physics and Poetry” at the Massachusetts Poetry Festival, May 6, Salem MA, 2017.
Bill has authored two books of flash fiction stories, Spectrum and Quests, in 2024 and 2025 respectively, published by The Seventh Quarry Press.
As Distinguished Professor of Physics for twenty-five years at the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA, Bill combined teaching and research while thesis advisor to nearly one-hundred Masters and PhD students, guiding them through their own discoveries. He served as Principal Investigator on more than eighty research contracts, published over one-hundred refereed research papers, holds five patents, and has given more than one-hundred invited lectures throughout the U.S., Asia, and Europe to further the understanding of laser science.
In recognition during his career, Bill received the International Free-Electron Laser Prize from the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Laser and Electro-Optic Society and became a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. At retirement, he was given Emeritus status and was awarded the U.S. Navy Superior Civilian Service Medal, the highest award the Navy may bestow on a civilian employee.
After retirement, Bill’s activities expanded to include writing. He has co-authored “The Interview” with Award-Winning poet Peter Thabit Jones of Swansea, Wales, published in the “Seventh Quarry Swansea Poetry Magazine,” Issue Twenty-Four, 2016, and was a co-presenter for “Building Bridges Between Physics and Poetry” at the Massachusetts Poetry Festival, May 6, Salem MA, 2017.
Bill has authored two books of flash fiction stories, Spectrum and Quests, in 2024 and 2025 respectively, published by The Seventh Quarry Press.
PROFESSIONAL CAREER
Bendix Research Laboratory
Began by developing new technologies including electron/photon detectors and night-vision systems. Awarded the Bendix Corporation Graduate Fellowship to attend Stanford University in 1972.
Stanford Univeristy
Earned PhD in 1977, focusing on the theory and simulation of the newly-invented free-electron laser. His dissertation work explained how free-electron lasers function and became foundational to the field, influencing laboratories and industries worldwide and contributing to the eventual development of the world’s first x-ray laser.
Center for Space Physics, Rice University
Quantum Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara
Berkeley Research Associates
Naval Postgraduate School
Appointed Professor of Physics, combining teaching and research. Advised 86 Master’s students and 7 PhD students in laser physics and related fields.
- Received the International Free-Electron Laser Prize from the IEEE Laser and Electro-Optic Society.
- Elected Fellow of both the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
- Served as Principal Investigator on 80+ research contracts and published 160+ refereed papers.
- Named Distinguished Physics Professor, Naval Postgraduate School.
- Holds 5 patents, gives 100+ invited lectures worldwide.
- Guest Editor, IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics; Co-Editor, Free Electron Laser Handbook.
- Served on review panels for NAS, FASEB, ONR, NASA, and the Department of Energy.
- Became visiting scientist at multiple national labs and international universities.