1931
Born to Glenn William and Alma Ora (Miller) McIlwain in Houston, TX.
1952
Marries Mary Louise Hocker.
1953
Earns a Bachelor of Music from North Texas State College.
1956
Earns a Master of Science from the University of Iowa.
1960
Earns a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Iowa.
1960
Devised the universally used magnetic coordinate system for studying charged particles in space.
1960
Teaches as an assistant professor the University of Iowa through 1962.
1962
Is an associate professor of physics at the University of California San Diego through 1966.
1962
Is a member of the fields and particles subcommittee within the space sciences steering committee at NASA through 1966.
1964
Is a member of the anti-submarine warfare panel within the President’s Science Advisory Committee through 1967.
1964
Is a member of the committee on potential contamination and interference from space experiments within the Space Sciences Board through 1971.
1966
Teaches as a professor at the University of California San Diego until his retirement in 1992.
1967
Is a member of the advisory committee for radiation hazards in supersonic transports within the Federal Aviation Administration through 1971.
1968
Is honored as a Guggenheim fellow and receives this honor again in 1972.
1970
Receives the Space Sciences Award from the American Institute of Aerospace and Astronautics.
1975
Receives the John A. Fleming Award from the American Geophysical Union and remains a fellow of the organization.
1976
Receives the Senior U.S. Scientist Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Germany.
1977
Is a member of the Fachbeirat Institute Extraterrestrial Physics within the Max Planck Institute in Garching, Germany, through 1983.
1983
Is on the Space Sciences Board of the National Research Council through 1986.
1992
Is named professor emeritus by the University of California San Diego and presently maintains this title.