William Augustus Stearns (March 17, 1805 – June 8, 1876) was a 19th-century American Reformed minister and teacher who served as president of Amherst College from 1854 to 1876.

William A. Stearns was born in Bedford, Massachusetts on March 17, 1805.

Stearns served as pastor of Prospect Street Congregational Church from 1831 to 1854 when he left to become president of Amherst College.

[2][3] His son Wilfrid Alden Stearns was an amateur naturalist who wrote several books.

This biography of an American academic administrator born in 1800–1809 is a stub.