[4] He served as president of the American Conference of Teachers of Journalism, and was the recipient of numerous honorary doctorates from institutions including the University of Pennsylvania and Brown College.

[1][6] In 1912, Williams left The Philadelphia Press to become the first director (Dean) of the newly founded Columbia School of Journalism, built and endowed by Joseph Pulitzer.

[9][5] Williams philosophy of education, led him to design courses that included imparting cultural knowledge as well as promoting an understanding of science.

Responding to criticism that newspapers reveal too many unsavory details regarding social and political conditions, Williams replied:[11] "You can not keep the smell of sewer gas out of your house by shutting the doors.

After his death, two members of the senate, John Huston Finley and Reverend Oscar M. Voorhees, served as honorary pallbearers.

[14][15] In a letter to Swope, Williams wrote, "You did a great public service, you did it with unassuming loyalty and fidelity to the best standards of journalism, and you labor in a field where recognition ... is rarest.

"[3] The awards were issued at a time when Woodrow Wilson was a wartime president and Germanophobia was permeating society; Nicholas Murray Butler declared a moratorium on academic freedom, and dismissed two faculty members for what he perceived as disloyal behavior.

[1] Williams was a member of the American Oriental Society and the American Philosophical Society; he served with the National Security League, and on the Committee for Organized Education; he was a member of Economic Club of New York, and was one of the featured speakers on the topic of The Regulation of Competition Versus The Regulation of Monopoly, November 1, 1912.

[4][16] In 1916, when President Woodrow Wilson was campaigning for a second term, he ran on an ideology of Americanism, promising a war-weary public, that he would keep America out of involvement in World War I.

In 2017, HuffPost invoked Talcott's name when reporting on Donald Trump, and his "America First," campaign; in the article, Trump Was Not First To Use "America First" Slogan, reporter Rich Rubino, noted that in 1919, Talcott had asked then Senator Boies Penrose, "What is going to be the great keynote of the Republican Party in the next presidential election?"

He explained that the war was being fought "to decide the final fate of this area, much of which has already been staked out..." He went on to point out "any territories may be shifted when the conflict is won.

"[26][27] Williams was a good friend of artist Thomas Eakins, as well as other notable figures such as Walt Whitman, Horace Howard Furness, Robert Vonnoh, and Cecilia Beaux.

His friends affectionately, referred to him as "Talk-a-lot" Williams, for his love of intellectual discussion and the cultural life he enjoyed, joining in clubs and societies.