William Frederick Meggers (1888-1966), US physicist. Meggers studied at Ripon College, Wisconsin, and then worked at the Carnegie Institute of Technology, followed by the National Bureau of Standards. It was during this period (from 1914) that he studied for his PhD at Johns Hopkins University. His speciality was spectroscopy, and he is considered the founder of the field in the USA. In 1953, he was awarded the Elliott Cresson Medal from the Franklin Institute. This photograph dates from between 1905 and 1945. It is from the Harris and Ewing Collection, which mostly consists of photographs taken in Washington DC, USA.