Lancaster, William W.

• William Woart Lancaster

William Woart Lancaster was a prominent American international lawyer, financial counsel, and foreign policy administrator. He is most notable for serving as a partner at the elite New York law firm Shearman & Sterling and as legal counsel for the First National City Bank of New York (now Citigroup). Born in New York City, Lancaster was raised in Augusta, Maine. He graduated with both his undergraduate degree (1897) and law degree from Harvard University and Harvard Law School. He was involved with international banking issues and relations with Great Britain and the U.S.S.R. during and after World War II. He worked for National City Bank and served as the head of the Foreign Policy Association and possibly the American-Soviet Friendship Society.