BOULDER, Colo. (AP) -- A scientist from Boulder is one of two winners of the 2012 Nobel Prize in physics.

David Wineland, a physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, won the prize Tuesday along with Frenchman Serge Haroche, a longtime friend.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences cited the two scientists "for ground-breaking experimental methods that enable measuring and manipulation of individual quantum systems."

NIST spokesman Jim Burrus said Wineland was sleeping when the call came at 4 a.m. MT notifying him that he won. His wife answered the phone.

Burrus described Wineland as a humble person who never expects to win prizes. He also doesn't seem to take himself too seriously: Wineland once played first base on a NIST softball team called "Field of Tweebs."