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{{Short description|American physicist (born 1939)}}
{{about|the physicist|the pro-wrestler|William Murray Happer}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = William Happer
| image = William Happer by Gage Skidmore 2.jpg
| caption = Happer in 2018
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1939|7|27}}
| birth_place = [[Vellore]], [[British India|India]]
| death_date =
| death_place =
| education = [[University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill|University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill]] ([[Bachelor of Science|BS]]) [[Princeton University]] ([[Master of Science|MS]], [[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]])
| awards = [[Davisson–Germer Prize in Atomic or Surface Physics]]
| fields = [[Optical pumping]] [[Atomic physics]]
| workplaces = [[Princeton University]]
| thesis_title = Frequency shifts in atomic beams resonances
| thesis_url = https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/632659656
| thesis_year = 1964
| doctoral_students = [[John W. Farley|John Farley]]
| notable_students = [[Julia Hsu]]
}}
'''William Happer''' (born July 27, 1939<ref name=aip/>) is an American [[physicist]] who has specialized in the study of [[atomic physics]], [[optics]] and [[spectroscopy]].<ref name= Shaw>{{citation |url=http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=10984|title=University research centers of excellence for homeland security |author=Alan Shaw |year=2004 |publisher=National Academies Press |isbn=978-0-309-09236-4|doi=10.17226/10984 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> He is the Cyrus Fogg Brackett<ref>[http://etcweb.princeton.edu/CampusWWW/Companion/brackett_cyrus_fogg.html Brackett, Cyrus Fogg (1833-1915)], first [[Joseph Henry]] Professor of Physics and founder of the Electrical Engineering Department at Princeton</ref> Professor of Physics, emeritus, at [[Princeton University]],<ref name=Shaw/> and a long-term member of the [[JASON (advisory group)|JASON advisory group]],<ref name=aip>{{cite web| url=http://www.aip.org/history/acap/biographies/bio.jsp?happerw |title=William Happer |work=Array of Contemporary American Physicists |publisher=[[American Institute of Physics]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170124125114/http://history.aip.org/history/acap/biographies/bio.jsp?happerw |archive-date=2017-01-24 |access-date=2019-06-10 |url-status=dead}}</ref> where he pioneered the development of [[adaptive optics]]. From 1991 to 1993, Happer served as director of the [[United States Department of Energy|Department of Energy]]'s [[Office of Science]] as part of the [[George HW Bush|George H.W. Bush]] [[Presidency of George H. W. Bush|administration]]. He was dismissed from the [[United States Department of Energy|Department of Energy]] in 1993 by the Clinton Administration after disagreements on the [[Ozone depletion|ozone hole]].<ref name=ozone>{{citation | title=Happer Leaves DOE Under Ozone Cloud for Violating Political Correctness |journal=Physics Today |volume=46 |pages = 89–91|number=6 |year=1993|doi = 10.1063/1.2808934|last1 = Goodwin|first1 = Irwin|bibcode = 1993PhT....46f..89G}}</ref>

Happer, who is not formally trained as a climate scientist,<ref name=":0" /> [[Climate change denial|rejects the scientific consensus on climate change]]. In 2018, [[Donald Trump]] appointed him to the [[United States National Security Council|National Security Council]] to counter evidence linking [[carbon dioxide emissions]] to [[global warming]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/white-house-readies-panel-to-assess-if-climate-change-poses-a-national-security-threat/2019/02/19/ccc8b29e-3396-11e9-af5b-b51b7ff322e9_story.html |title=White House readies panel to assess if climate change poses a national security threat |date=February 20, 2019 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref><ref name=TRUMPphysicistEmails>Niina Farah and Robin Bravender, [https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060081341 Emails reveal behind-the-scenes plans for climate debate], ''ClimateWire'', May 10, 2018.</ref> He resigned from the council in 2019.<ref name=":1">{{cite journal |doi=10.1126/science.aaz4845 |doi-access=free|title=Why a high-profile climate science opponent quit Trump's White House |year=2019 |last1=Waldman |first1=Scott |journal=Science }}</ref>

==Early life and education==
Happer was born in [[Vellore]], [[British India]], the son of William Happer, a Scottish medical officer in the [[British Indian Army|Indian Army]], and Gladys Morgan Happer, a medical missionary for the Lutheran Church of North Carolina. Happer spent the years of [[World War II]] with his mother in [[Oak Ridge, Tennessee]]. After the war and a return to India, his family emigrated to [[North Carolina]].<ref>Ann Finkbeiner, ''The Jasons: The Secret History of Science's Postwar Elite'', pp. 222-225. Viking/Penguin, 2006, {{ISBN|0-670-03489-4}}</ref> He studied physics at the [[University of North Carolina]], graduating in 1960. He earned his doctorate at [[Princeton University]] in 1964.<ref name=Shaw/>

==Career==
Happer's academic career began at [[Columbia University]], where he eventually became a full [[professor]] and director of the Columbia Radiation Laboratory.<ref name = Shaw />

Happer joined the [[JASON (advisory group)|JASON advisory group]] in 1976, and was still active there in 2005.<ref name=aip/>

In 1980, he left Columbia to go to Princeton.<ref name= Shaw/> He is credited with a key insight in 1982 that made [[adaptive optics]] possible: there is a layer of [[sodium]] in the [[mesosphere]], at around 90 to 100 km of elevation, which could be lit by a laser beam to make an artificial [[guide star]]. His idea was tested successfully by [[DARPA]] but [[Classified information|classified]] for possible military applications. The military-designed technology was partially unclassified in 1991, after the same idea was independently proposed by two French astronomers. In 1994, Happer and co-authors published a declassified version of the JASON reports on adaptive optics.<ref>Ann Finkbeiner, ''The Jasons'', pp. 157-167</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Happer |first1=W. |last2=MacDonald |first2=G. J. |last3=Max |first3=C. E. |last4=Dyson |first4=F. J. |title=Atmospheric-turbulence compensation by resonant optical backscattering from the sodium layer in the upper atmosphere |journal= Journal of the Optical Society of America A|year=1994 |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=263–276 |doi=10.1364/JOSAA.11.000263|bibcode=1994JOSAA..11..263H }}</ref> Happer was chairman of the steering committee for JASON, from 1987 to 1990,<ref name=aip/> and was the Class of 1909 Professor of Physics at Princeton University from 1988 to 1991.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Professorships {{!}} Dean of the Faculty|url=https://dof.princeton.edu/about/faculty/professorships|access-date=2020-06-12|website=dof.princeton.edu}}</ref> In 1991, he joined the [[United States Department of Energy]] as director of energy research.<ref name = Shaw /> He served in that position until being dismissed in 1993 for his views on the [[ozone layer]],<ref name=ozone/> after which he returned to his position at Princeton.<ref name=Shaw/> He co-founded Magnetic Imaging Technologies Inc. in 1994.<ref name=Shaw/> He held the [[Cyrus Fogg Brackett Professorship of Physics]] from 2003 until his retirement in 2014.<ref>{{cite web|title=William Happer, Ph.D.|website=The Heartland Institute|url=https://climateconference.heartland.org/speakers/william-happer/}}</ref>

Happer has served as a trustee of the [[MITRE Corporation]], the [[Richard Lounsbery Foundation]], and the [[Marshall Institute]],<ref name = Shaw /> of which he was chairman from 2006 until it was disbanded in 2015.<ref name= GMI1>{{citation |url=http://www.marshall.org/pdf/materials/405.pdf |title=Happer Named Institute Chairman |year=2006 |publisher=[[George C. Marshall Institute]] |access-date=2011-01-24 |archive-date=2011-07-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721211518/http://www.marshall.org/pdf/materials/405.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Happer is a co-founder and board member of an advocacy group called the [[CO2 Coalition|CO2 Coalition]], established in 2015.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Cole |first1=Devan |title=Washington Post: Climate skeptic may lead WH panel to study climate change and national security |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2019/02/20/politics/white-house-climate-panel-william-happer/index.html |website=[[CNN]] |date=20 February 2019 |access-date=29 May 2019}}</ref> He has described the group as aiming to "educate the public that increased atmospheric levels of CO2 will benefit the world".<ref name=ZH>{{cite web |last1=Hirji |first1=Zahra |title= Here's How Much Money The Mercer Family Donated To Climate Misinformation Groups In 2016 |url= https://www.buzzfeednews.com/amphtml/zahrahirji/mercers-gop-climate-change-denial |website=[[BuzzFeed]] |access-date=22 July 2021}}</ref> The group has been funded by donations of over $100,000 from the [[Sarah Scaife]] Foundation and the [[Mercer Family Foundation]] of [[Robert Mercer]] and [[Rebekah Mercer]], as well as $50,000 each from the [[Searle Freedom Trust]], the Thomas W. Smith Foundation, the [[Lynde & Harry Bradley Foundation]], and the Achelis and Bodman Foundation.<ref name=ZH />

==Views==
===Climate change position===
Happer disagrees with the [[scientific consensus on climate change]], stating that "Some small fraction of the 1 °C warming during the past two centuries must have been due to increasing CO2, which is indeed a greenhouse gas", but argues that "most of the warming has probably been due to natural causes".<ref name=tbsinterview/> [[Michael Oppenheimer]], co-founder of the Climate Action Network, said that Happer’s claims are "simply not true" and that the preponderance of evidence and majority of expert opinion points to a strong anthropogenic influence on rising global temperatures.<ref name=APS3>{{citation|url=http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2009/01/professor-denies-global-warming-theory | title = Professor denies global warming theory | first=Raymond | last = Brusca |year=2009|publisher = The Daily Princetonian| access-date = May 11, 2017}}</ref> Climate Science Watch published a point-by-point rebuttal to one of Happer’s articles.<ref>[http://www.climatesciencewatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/The-Real-Truth-About-Greenhouse-Gases-and-Climate-Change.pdf Michael MacCraken's response, "The Real Truth about Greenhouse Gases and Climate Change: Paragraph-by-Paragraph Comments on an Article by Dr. William Happer"] at Climate Science Watch, September 2011</ref> A petition that he coauthored to change the official position of the American Physical Society to a version that raised doubts about global warming was overwhelmingly rejected by the APS Council.<ref name=APS2>{{citation |url= https://www.aps.org/newsroom/pressreleases/climatechange.cfm |title=APS Council Overwhelmingly Rejects Proposal to Replace Society's Current Climate Change Statement |year=2009}}</ref>{{Verify source|date=August 2023|reason=The source does not seem to state that the proposal was coauthored by Happer}} Happer has no formal training as a climate scientist,<ref name=":0" /> and says that his beliefs about climate change come from his experience at the Department of Energy, at which he supervised all non-weapons energy research, including climate change research.<ref name=APS3/>

In 2014, Happer said that the "demonization of carbon dioxide is just like the demonization of the poor Jews under Hitler".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/20/reuters-america-white-house-readies-panel-to-question-security-risks-of-climate.html|title=White House readies panel to question security risks of climate|last=Gardner|first=Timothy|date=2019-02-20|website=www.cnbc.com|access-date=2019-02-20}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a26446092/carbon-dioxide-hitler-jews-william-happer-climate-change-trump/|newspaper=[[Esquire (magazine)|Esquire]]|access-date=February 25, 2019|first=Jack|last=Holmes|date=February 21, 2019|title=The Head Honcho on Trump's New Climate Change Panel Compared Carbon Dioxide to Jewish People: Both, he said, have been wrongly persecuted}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-climate-change-panel-william-happer-co2-jews-nazi-germany-hitler-a8789966.html|newspaper=[[The Independent]]|access-date=February 25, 2019|date=February 21, 2019|title=Trump climate change panel set to be led by scientist who compared 'demonisation' of carbon dioxide to Holocaust|first=Chris|last=Baynes}}</ref>

In December 2015, Happer was targeted in a sting operation by the environmental activist group [[Greenpeace]]. Posing as consultants for a Middle Eastern oil and gas company, they asked Happer to write a report touting the benefits of rising carbon emissions. Happer declined a fee for his work, calling it a "labor of love", but said that they could donate to the "objective evidence" climate-change organization [[CO2 Coalition|CO2 Coalition]], which suggested that he contact the [[Donors Trust]] to keep the source of the funds secret as requested by the Greenpeace sting operation. Hiding the sources of funding in this way is lawful under U.S. law. Happer further acknowledged that his report would probably not pass peer-review with a scientific journal.<ref name=GuardianGreenpeace>Suzanne Goldenberg, "[https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/dec/08/greenpeace-exposes-sceptics-cast-doubt-climate-science Greenpeace exposes sceptics hired to cast doubt on climate science]", ''The Guardian'', December 8, 2015.</ref> In an interview, Happer responded to the sting operation: "I was only interested in helping the 'client' to publicize my long-held views, not to peddle whatever message the 'client' had in mind ... I have never taken a dime for any of my activities to educate the public that more CO2 will benefit the world."<ref name=tbsinterview>{{cite web |title=William Happer Interview |url=https://thebestschools.org/special/karoly-happer-dialogue-global-warming/william-happer-interview/ |website=The Best Schools |access-date=29 May 2019 |date=2016-02-12 |archive-date=2019-06-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190608025613/https://thebestschools.org/special/karoly-happer-dialogue-global-warming/william-happer-interview/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Political===
In 2017 following the election of [[Donald Trump]] into office, Happer met with Trump to discuss potentially becoming the [[Science Advisor to the President]], and said that he would take the job if it was offered. Happer described Trump as "very attentive" and that the president's concerns "were that of a technically literate person".<ref name=TRUMPadviser>Hannah Devlin, [https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/feb/15/trump-science-adviser-william-happer-climate-change-cult Trump's likely science adviser calls climate scientists 'glassy-eyed cult'], ''The Guardian'', February 15, 2017.</ref> They discussed the president's uncle [[John Trump]], whom Happer had known.<ref name="thomas20181019">{{Cite journal |last=Thomas |first=William |date=2018-10-19 |title=A profile of John Trump, Donald's oft-mentioned scientist uncle |url=https://pubs.aip.org/physicstoday/Online/30972/A-profile-of-John-Trump-Donald-s-oft-mentioned |journal=Physics Today |issue=10 |doi=10.1063/PT.6.4.20181019a|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Hannah Devlin of ''[[The Guardian]]'' wrote that Happer "supports a controversial crackdown on the freedom of federal agency scientists to speak out about their findings, arguing that mixed messages... have led to people disregarding all public health information."<ref name=TRUMPadviser/>

In early September 2018 it was announced that Happer would be appointed senior director of the [[United States National Security Council|National Security Council]] office for emerging technologies.<ref name="Hill9418">{{cite news |author1=Miranda Green |title=Climate skeptic to join NSC, advise Trump on emerging technologies |url=https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/405043-noted-climate-skeptic-to-advise-trump-on-emerging-technologies/ |access-date=September 5, 2018 |work=The Hill |date=September 4, 2018 |quote=President Trump is appointing William Happer, a well-known climate skeptic, to his National Security Council (NSC).}}</ref> He resigned from the Council in September 2019, reportedly because his plan to review climate science did not receive sufficient support from the White House. It was shelved as some members of the administration, including [[Kelvin Droegemeier]], believed it could harm Trump in his 2020 re-election campaign.<ref name=":1" />

==Honors==
Happer is a fellow of the [[American Physical Society]]. Happer was elected as a member of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] in 1995 and a member of the [[National Academy of Sciences]] in 1996.<ref>{{Cite web|title=William Happer|url=https://www.amacad.org/person/william-happer|website=American Academy of Arts & Sciences|language=en|access-date=2020-05-14}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=William Happer|url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/members/54879.html|website=www.nasonline.org|access-date=2020-05-14}}</ref> He received a [[Sloan Research Fellowship]] in 1967, the [[Herbert P. Broida Prize]] in 1997, the [[Davisson–Germer Prize in Atomic or Surface Physics|Davisson-Germer Prize]] and the [[Research and Development Council of New Jersey#Thomas Alva Edison Patent Awards|Thomas Alva Edison Patent Award]] in 2000.<ref name= Shaw /> In 2003, he was named the Cyrus Fogg Brackett Professor of Physics at [[Princeton University]].<ref>{{cite web | title=Happer and Ong named to endowed professorships | publisher= Princeton Weekly Bulletin | date= 2003-02-24| url= http://www.princeton.edu/pr/pwb/03/0224/2b.shtml}}</ref> Currently, he is a Professor Emeritus.

==Selected publications==
* {{cite journal |doi=10.1103/RevModPhys.69.629|title=Spin-exchange optical pumping of noble-gas nuclei |year=1997 |last1=Walker |first1=Thad G. |last2=Happer |first2=William |journal=Reviews of Modern Physics |volume=69 |issue=2 |pages=629–642 |bibcode=1997RvMP...69..629W }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Happer |first1=W. |last2=MacDonald |first2=G. J. |last3=Max |first3=C. E. |last4=Dyson |first4=F. J. |title=Atmospheric-turbulence compensation by resonant optical backscattering from the sodium layer in the upper atmosphere |journal= Journal of the Optical Society of America A|year=1994 |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=263–276 |doi=10.1364/JOSAA.11.000263|bibcode=1994JOSAA..11..263H }}
* {{cite journal |doi=10.1103/RevModPhys.44.169|title=Optical Pumping |year=1972 |last1=Happer |first1=William |journal=Reviews of Modern Physics |volume=44 |issue=2 |pages=169–249 |bibcode=1972RvMP...44..169H }}
* {{cite journal |doi=10.1142/S0217751X14600033|title=Why has global warming paused? |year=2014 |last1=Happer |first1=William |journal=International Journal of Modern Physics A |volume=29 |issue=7 |bibcode=2014IJMPA..2960003H }}

== See also ==
*[[Ozone depletion]]

== References ==
{{reflist|2}}

== External links ==
{{Wikiquote}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20161216063808/http://dof.princeton.edu/about/clerk-faculty/emeritus/william-happer William Happer Professor Emeritus biography] at Princeton University
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20111008125055/http://www.princeton.edu/physics/people/display_person.xml?netid=happer&display=faculty William Happer faculty page] at Physics Dept., Princeton University

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Happer, William}}
[[Category:1939 births]]
[[Category:20th-century American physicists]]
[[Category:21st-century American physicists]]
[[Category:People from Vellore]]
[[Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Princeton University faculty]]
[[Category:Columbia University faculty]]
[[Category:University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Physical Society]]
[[Category:Princeton University alumni]]

William Happer - Revision history

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