Lieutenant Colonel William Roy Hodgson, CMG, OBE (22 May 1892 – 24 January 1958) was an Australian soldier, public servant and diplomat.

His significant achievements were being involved in the formation of the United Nations General Assembly and representing Australia internationally at many diplomatic conferences during the Second World War, and being a member of the drafting committee of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Born on 22 May 1892 in Kingston, Victoria, William Hodgson was educated at the School of Mines, Ballarat, and, as a member of the original class of 1911, at the Royal Military College, Duntroon, Australian Capital Territory.

[1] He resigned from defence force service in 1934 and was granted the honorary rank of lieutenant colonel, continuing his involvement with military intelligence until 1936.

In that year he also attended the UN Conference on International Organisation in San Francisco and was leader of the Australian Delegation to the UN Preparatory Commission in London.

Eleanor Roosevelt took on the role of chairing the Commission and took up the task of drafting the Universal Declaration of Human rights, with Hodgson being involved in this committee.