William Joseph Evans
William Joseph Evans passed away Feb. 4, 2026. He was 60.
Born in Chicago, Evans pursued physics with remarkable focus and curiosity from an early age. He earned his bachelor of science from the California Institute of Technology, graduating with honors in 1987. He continued his studies at Harvard University as a prestigious Fannie and John Hertz Foundation Fellow, earning both his master of science and doctor of philosophy in applied physics. Following graduate school, he began his over 30-year career at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). He joined LLNL as a staff physicist in 1995. His work centered on understanding how materials behave under extreme conditions, especially at high pressure and temperature, with a focus on equations of state, phase transformations, transition kinetics, and metastability. In 2007, he was promoted to group leader of the High Pressure Physics Group, where he managed and mentored experimental teams. He played an influential role in developing the dynamic diamond anvil cell, which enabled ultrahigh-pressure materials research. In 2014, he was tapped to serve as associate division leader for the condensed matter section in the physics division. Under his leadership, the section advanced the study of materials at extreme pressures and temperatures, both static and dynamic, with increasing emphasis on the dynamics and kinetics of phase transitions through time-resolved diagnostics, probes, and detectors. In 2019, he became Physics division leader in the Physical and Life Sciences Directorate at LLNL. There, he led more than 210 Ph.D. scientists across condensed matter and materials science and related areas, guiding strategic directions, division operations, personnel management and safety oversight. He helped to establish an American Physical Society Chapter at LLNL in 2020 to encourage the success of early-career physicists, and he engaged in recruiting and mentorship activities throughout his career. In 2023, he came full circle to serve as a Hertz Foundation board member and interviewer, reflecting his dedication to education and support of young scientific talent.
He is survived by his wife Radawn Alcorn, his son Will Evans, his daughter Milan Evans, and his father Billy Joe Evans, professor emeritus at University of Michigan.
