William Louis "Bill" Culberson (April 5, 1929 in Indianapolis, Indiana – February 8, 2003 in Durham, North Carolina) was an American lichenologist.

In 1955, Culberson joined the botany department at Duke University; he subsequently managed Duke's acquisition of the lichen-centric herbaria of Julien Harmand and Johan Havaas.

He served as president of the Botanical Society of America and the American Bryological and Lichenological Society[3] and as director of the Sarah P. Duke Gardens.

[6] In 2000, botanist Theodore Esslinger circumscribed Culbersonia, which is a fungal genus in the family Caliciaceae and named in Bill Culberson and Chicita F. Culberson's honour, his "longtime friends and mentors".

[7][8] In 1953,[9] Dr. Culberson married fellow lichenologist Chicita F. Forman.