William Emory Quinby (December 14, 1835 – June 7, 1908) was an American newspaper publisher and diplomat who served as United States Ambassador to the Netherlands.

His family moved to Detroit in 1850, where his father Daniel F. Quinby published a magazine, The Literary Miscellany.

William Quinby attended Gregory's Business College in Detroit before transferring to the University of Michigan, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1858.

[1] Deciding to abandon law for journalism, in 1861 Quinby became a reporter for the Detroit Free Press.

[2] Active in politics as a Democrat, in 1893 President Grover Cleveland nominated him as Ambassador to the Netherlands, where he served until 1897.