Watt W. Webb is a Professor of Applied Physics, S.B. Eckert Professor in Engineering and Director of the National Institutes of Health Developmental Resource for Biophysical Imaging Opto-Electronics [DRBIO] since 1988. He joined the Cornell faculty in 1961 as Associate Professor of Engineering Physics and was named Professor of Applied Physics in 1965 and S.B. Eckert Professor in Engineering in 1998. He served as the Director of Cornellýs School of Applied and Engineering Physics from 1983 to 1988. He began his career at Union Carbide Research Laboratories as a Research Engineer in 1947-1952. After receiving his Ph.D. in 1955, he returned to Union Carbide in successive positions as a Research Scientist (1955-1959), Coordinator of Fundamental Research (1959-1960), and Assistant Director of Research (1960-1961). As a Cornell faculty member, he has supervised over 45 Ph.D. theses. Webb's recent awards include the National Lectureship of the Biophysical Society (2002), Rank Prize in Opto-electronics (2000), the Jablonski Prize of the Biophysical Society (2000), the Michelson-Morley Award of Case-Western Reserve University (1999), and the Biological Physics Prize of the American Physical Society (1991). He is an elected Fellow of the American Physical Society, the Biophysical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and Founding Fellow of the American Institute of Biological and Medical Engineers. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Science, and the American Academy of Arts and Science. He lectures broadly and is active as a consultant and in various national advisory committees.