The professional life of William Meggers was filled with innumerable accomplishments. The so-called "dean of American spectroscopists" devoted his entire professional career to important advances in his field. He was a mainstay at the National Bureau of Standards in Washington, D.C., where he was hired in 1914 as a lab assistant to Keivin Burns, the lab's only spectroscopist. Within six years, Meggers became chief of the spectroscopy division of the NBS, a position he would hold until his retirement in 1958.

Among his contributions to spectroscopy, Meggers spent tireless years working on the long-term project of describing atomic spectra and refining wavelength and intensity measurements. Also included in his efforts were measurements of indices of refraction for the atmosphere and developing methods for photographing near-infrared spectra.

His work with more than 70 spectra made Meggers the first person to determine the energy levels and electron configurations for rare-earth elements. The concept of photographing infrared spectra was an advancement that allowed the collection of spectral data for an additional 45 elements. The far-reaching impact of his work even included crime detection and testing gold by way of spectrochemical analysis of metals and alloys.

Over the years he compiled an impressive list of public recognition for his efforts. Among the awards Dr. Meggers earned are the Exceptional Service Gold Medal from the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Franklin Institute's Eliot Cresson Medal, and both the Ives and Mees Medals from the Optical Society of America. He was also named an honorary member of the Society for Applied Spectroscopy and the Optical Society of America.

Meggers devoted much of his life to the study of physics, so it is not surprising that he did not officially retire from the NBS until he was nearly 70 years old. Perhaps less surprising is that even after retiring, he continued to work as a guest scientist at the bureau.