William Williams was a two-sport athlete at Idaho in the 1940s. He was a Pacific Coast Conference champion boxer at Idaho as well as a quarterback for the football team.
He won the 145-pound crown in boxing at the 1942 Pacific Coast Conference Championships and helped lead Idaho football to eight wins, including a 19-16 upset at Stanford. His college career was put on hold as World War II began and Williams enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps, where he became a B-24 pilot. He flew 26 combat missions over Germany before returning home at the end of the war to resume his studies. After Idaho, he went on to serve on the Spokane County Superior Court Bench for more than 20 years, after which he served on the Washington Supreme Court for seven years – three as Chief Justice.