William Cunningham Smith (1871–1943) was an American academic of English literature, university administrator, and writer.
Born in Greensboro, Smith was educated at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
In 1900, he came to the State Normal and Industrial College (now the University of North Carolina at Greensboro) as a professor of English, and in 1904, he became head of the department.
Smith taught the men's bible class at First Presbyterian Church of Greensboro, and gave a very popular series of lectures on Robert Browning under the auspices of the literature division of the Woman's Club of Greensboro.
Smith was married to Gertrude Allen of Greensboro; they had four daughters and a son.