William Parker is Associate Professor of Computational Physics at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. His research applies quantum mechanics computationally to the electrons in real materials, connecting fundamental theory to properties that experiments can measure and industry can use. He has taught physics for more than two decades, working to move students from memorization to principled understanding, and has mentored undergraduate researchers through campus research grants and summer fellowships into published research and graduate study. He earned his PhD in physics at The Ohio State University and was an Argonne Scholar at Argonne National Laboratory before joining Parkside in 2016. Beyond the classroom, he directs the Charles and Kathryn Heide Observatory at Hawthorn Hollow Nature Sanctuary and Arboretum in Somers, where he works to kindle in visitors of all ages the curiosity about the night sky that first draws people into science.