William Leo Hansberry (February 25, 1894 – November 3, 1965) was an American scholar, lecturer and pioneering Afrocentrist.

[3] His father was a professor of agriculture at Alcorn A&M in Lorman, Mississippi, but died when the younger Hansberry was only three years old.

In September 1922, Hansberry joined the faculty of Howard University where he started the African Civilization Section of the History Department.

[5][6] His knowledge of African studies was so vast that he was unable to obtain a Ph.D. because there was no school with faculty members qualified to supervise his dissertation.

With the program and his job on the line, Hansberry presented the Board of Trustees with detailed documentation of his research.

While he managed to save the African studies program, Hansberry's research funding was cut off and he would not receive tenure until 1938.

[5] He married Myrtle Kelso (September 24, 1908—May 1980)[12] of Meridian, Lauderdale County, Mississippi,[13] on June 22, 1937, in Chicago.

[15] Two children were born to this union: While visiting relatives in Chicago, Hansberry died at Billings Hospital[7] of a cerebral hemorrhage on November 3, 1965.