William Giauque (May 12, 1895 - March 28, 1982) won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1949 for his studies in the properties of matter at temperatures close to absolute zero.

He entered the College of Chemistry of the University of California, Berkeley, where he received a bachelor of science degree with honors in 1920, was a University Fellow for 1920-1921 and James M. Goewey Fellow 1921-1922. He received his Ph.D. degree in chemistry with a minor in physics in 1922.
Due to his outstanding performance as a student, he became an Instructor of Chemistry at Berkeley in 1922 and after passing through the various grades of professorship, he became full Professor of Chemistry in 1934. He retired in 1962.
He died on March 28, 1982 in Berkeley, California.