Understanding the composition of nucleon spin with the PHENIX detector at RHIC

The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) has just finished 14 years of operation. A significant fraction of these operating years were with polarized proton collisions at 62.4, 200, and 500' €‰GeV center of mass, investigating various aspects of nucleon spin through longitudinal and transversely polarized collisions. These data have helped to address some of the most puzzling and fundamental questions in quantum chromodynamics including: what fraction of the nucleon's spin originates in the gluon's helicity contribution?, how polarized are the sea quarks?, and what if any, is the evidence for transverse motion of quarks in polarized protons? These questions have been addressed by the PHENIX detector collaboration. We present in this review highlights of the PHENIX results and discuss their impact.