William Lanford is a Professor of Physics at University at Albany, SUNY.  His subfield of physics is ion beam analysis.  While the bulk of his publications are on physics topics, he has a long term interest in applications of modern physics in art and archaeology. He has taught courses on that topic at both UAlbany and Yale. In terms of service, he is currently a member of the Board of Directors, University at Albany Foundation.  Past service includes being a member of external advisory committees for Los Alamos National Laboratory, Chalk River National Laboratory (Canada), the International Atomic Energy Agency (part of United Nations) and a number of universities.  He has served as Chair of the UAlbany Senate and the NYS Section of the American Physical Society.

Personally he had a deep interest in American arts, both decorative and fine.  He initiated the creation of the Riders Mills Historic District, which is now listed on both the state and national registries of historic places.  He is currently restoring a 220 year old country Georgian house known locally as the Budd Tavern, a structure of both architectural and historic importance. He has a 25 year interest in the art and the artists associated with Woodstock. Over that time period he has assembled a number of painting and sculptures by Woodstock artists, some of which can be seen on his website: www.overbrookart.com.