William Anthony (November 9, 1926 – February 8, 1989) was an Irish/American bookbinder and book conservator, who specialized in fine leather bindings with inlays and gold tooling.

[2] Anthony, attracted by this “head of department” position, accepted the job and moved with his wife, Bernadette and their three children to Chicago.

During his five years at Iowa he was active in establishing the conservation department as well as setting up a world class bookbinding studio.

Among the many students who studied with Anthony are: William Minter, Mary Lynn Ritzenthaler, Pamela Spitzmueller, David Brock, Mark Esser, Lawrence Yerkes.

However, William Anthony seamlessly managed to combine his business activities, much of which was in book or document restoration with fine bindings through which he expressed his artistic visions.