William James McGill (27 February 1922 – 19 October 1997) was an American psychologist, author, and academic administrator.

McGill was born in New York City to a musician and labor organizer.

He attended parochial Catholic schools and in 1939 began his college education at Fordham University, where he earned bachelor's and master's degrees in psychology.

McGill was an assistant professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology until 1956 and then joined Columbia.

From 1979 to 1981 McGill chaired Jimmy Carter's Presidential Commission for a National Agenda for the Eighties.