William F. Tate IV is an American social scientist and higher education administrator.

In May 2021, he was selected as president of the Louisiana State University system, and chancellor of the flagship school in Baton Rouge.

He is the first Black person to hold the position(s), and the first to head any school in the Southeastern Conference.

At the time of his acceptance of the LSU position, he was serving as Provost and Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs at the University of South Carolina, where he is also USC Education Foundation Distinguished Professor with appointments in Sociology, Family and Preventive Medicine, and Epidemiology & Biostatistics.

He previously served as dean and vice provost for graduate education and held the Edward Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professorship in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis.