Bill Callister was born in East Mill Creek in August of 1940—five days after his parents moved into their new home on Neff’s Lane. He attended Sherman Elementary, Olympus Junior High, and Olympus High Schools. Math and chemistry classes were his favorites and the ones he mx-auto img-fluidfound most stimulating and interesting.Academic Experiences Bill began his higher education at the University of Utah in January 1959. He was awarded a BS degree in ceramic engineering in 1965, with a cumulative grade-point average was 3.496. Between his second and third years of study, he served a two-year proselyting mission for the LDS Church in northern England.Bill pursued his graduate studies at Stanford University and was granted MS and PhD Materials Science degrees in 1967 and 1971, respectively. The Stanford experience was life changing! Associations with intelligent and accomplished colleagues and friends profoundly influenced Bill’s reasoning and intuition competencies within the materials discipline, and, in addition, improved his creative problem-solving skills. After completion of his PhD degree, Bill took a one-year hiatus from his academic pursuits to travel, work at an elementary school, tutor junior high school students, and play softball. In July of 1972 Bill accepted a three-year post-doctoral appointment in the Materials Science and Engineering Division (within the Department of Mechanical Engineering) at the University of Utah. He assisted two professors with a research investigation designed to study the behavior of ceramic materials at high temperatures and when exposed to corrosive liquid slags. He also was involved in some departmental administrative activities and was afforded the opportunity to teach some undergraduate courses. At the conclusion of his post-doctoral studies, Bill accepted an assistant professorship at The Montana College of Mineral Science and Technology (now The Montana Technological University) in Butte, Montana. Research funds had been appropriated to Montana Tech for Bill to develop a research program almost identical to his post-doc work at the University of Utah. Personnel were hired, necessary equipment was designed, constructed, and purchased, tests commenced, under his direction and administration. He had the opportunity to teach most undergraduate courses and associated laboratory sections. It was through these teaching experiences that Bill mastered a reasonable perspective and understanding of the fundamentals of materials science and engineering. After three-years at Montana Tech, Bill decided it was time to leave Montana Tech and Butte. He was hired (in 1978) to fill a temporarily vacant faculty position in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Brigham Young University. During the next three years, he taught several undergraduate materials courses, associated labs, and one graduate level course. It was during his sojourn at BYU that Bill began work on the first edition of his introductory materials science and engineering textbook. A contract was signed with a textbook publisher and several chapters were prepared and class tested. The absent professor whose position Bill temporarily filled, returned to BYU and, rather than seeking employment, he decided to continue to work, full-time, on the textbook. During the next three years he composed a significant portion of the book. In 1984 Bill was invited to teach an introductory materials class in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Utah. This course was a success and over the next several years he accepted the responsibility to teach other undergraduate level courses and develop and instruct three laboratories. There was also the need for someone in the department to oversee the undergraduate program, an assignment Bill gladly accepted. By now his teaching/administrative load had become full-time, which led to the establishment of an adjunct associate professorship to which he was appointed. In due time he was elevated to the rank of adjunct professor. Work on his textbooks had become increasingly demanding, and in 1995 he left the department. Textbooks 

Drawing from his many experiences as both an instructor and textbook author, Bill has devised a new and innovative approach for teaching the fundamentals of materials science and engineering. It is called “concept-based learning and understanding for materials courses.” Understanding of concepts and concept relationships is cultivated by student assignments that require written definitions, explanations, and descriptions of concepts found in the textbook. The development of sets of concept questions is a work-in-progress and Bill anticipates that a workbook will be published in the not-too-distant future. Artificial intelligence may be used as an assessment tool to determine the correctness and quality of student responses. Bill is optimistic that this approach will revolutionize materials education. Extracurricular Activities Bill is an active member of his church and has served in a number and variety callings. He takes piano lessons and loves to play for his own entertainment and relaxation. During the spring, summer, and fall months Bill spends a portion of his time tending four orchards and a garden. Harvested fruit and vegetables are eaten fresh, canned (bottled), made into jam, dehydrated, and freeze dried for storage. Excess produce is shared with neighbors/friends and donated to charity. The water for Bill’s crops come from a creek (Mill Creek) that runs behind his house. This water is administered and distributed by an irrigation water company. For over twenty years, he served as an officer (including president of) this company. Photography is another of his diversions. He is the curator of his own photographs as well as those of ancestors and family members.