He received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers in 2004, the American Society of Engineering Education Beer and Johnston New Mechanics Educator Award in 2009, and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Hughes Young Investigator Award in 2013. William D. Nix has been teaching courses on imperfections in crystalline solids at Stanford University, California for more than 50 years. His teaching awards include the Bradley Stoughton Award for Young Teachers of Metallurgy, the Albert Easton White Distinguished Teacher Award, and the Educator Award from the Metallurgical Society. He has also received many awards for his research and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of both the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Sciences.