William Silfvast received a BSc degree in both physics and mathematics and a PhD in physics from the University of Utah. In 1990, he joined the faculty of the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida where he was Professor of Physics and Electrical Engineering as well as a member of the Center for Research and Education in Optics and Lasers (CREOL). In 1999 he also became a Professor of Optics at the School of Optics. He is presently Emeritus Professor of Optics. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, the Optical Society of America and the IEEE. He has carried out pioneering work in the fields of metal vapor lasers, recombination lasers, photoionization-pumped lasers, laser plasmas, and EUV lithography. He is the author of over 100 technical papers and holds more than 30 patents.