Neil William Ashcroft (27 November 1938 – 15 March 2021) was a British solid-state physicist.

[3] He was educated at Hutt Valley High School, and completed his undergraduate studies at Victoria University College,[3] earning a Bachelor of Science degree, in 1958.

He received his PhD in 1964 from the University of Cambridge for research investigating the Fermi surfaces of metals.

[6] Between 1986 and 1987, he served as the head of the Condensed Matter division of the American Physical Society.

His textbook on solid-state physics, written with N. David Mermin, is a standard text in the field.