William David Kingery (July 27, 1926 – June 30, 2000) was an American material scientist who developed systematic methods for the study of ceramics.

Each type of ceramic – including heavy clays (used for building), refractories, glass, pottery and porcelain – had its own subculture and empirical methods.

[7] Among the students he advised was W. Patrick McCray (Ph.D., 1996) who is now a professor of the history of science and technology at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

An active ocean sailor, he made a single-handed voyage to Bermuda in 1975, and subsequently organized the Marion-Bermuda Yacht Race, an event that has occurred every two years since 1977.

[8] He also sailed across the Atlantic for a sabbatical in France and across the Pacific to Tahiti and to the Marquesas Islands, the site of Herman Melville's book Typee.

In 1992 the society gave him the Outstanding Ceramic Educator Award; and in 1998 it established the W. David Kingery Prize, with him as the first recipient.

In 1999 the Inamori Foundation awarded him the Kyoto Prize for “Fundamental Contribution to Development of the Ceramics Science and Technology Based on the Physicochemical Theory”.