William M. Fields (born 1949), also known by the lexigram , is an American qualitative investigator studying language, culture, and tools in non-human primates.
He is best known for his collaboration with Sue Savage-Rumbaugh beginning in 1997 at the Language Research Center of Georgia State University.
He attended Georgia State University where he was the student of anthropologist Kathryn A. Kozaitis earning a B.A.
In 2006 he accepted the position of senior research scientist at the Great Ape Trust of Iowa where he participated in ape language research with Savage-Rumbaugh and the bonobos Kanzi, Panbanisha, Nyota, Nathan, Maisha, Elikya, and Matata.
The ape language program includes stone tool use and manufacture with paleolithic specialists Nicholas Toth and Kathy Schick.