William Hatcher was born in Newfoundland and educated at McGill, where he earned his B.A. in 1916, his M.Sc. in 1917 and a Ph.D. in 1921. He joined the staff of the Department of Chemistry in 1920 and became Assistant Professor in 1921, Associate Professor in 1929 and Professor in 1936. He retired in 1958 as Emeritus Professor. From 1944 to 1946, Hatcher served as McGill's first Assistant Dean of Arts and Science, and in 1949 he became course director and Vice-Principal of Dawson College, the campus created for World War II veterans. He twice served as chairman of the Physical Sciences Group (1940-1942, 1950-1957), and represented McGill on the Montréal City Council for many years. He was fundamentally an organic chemist and his main research interests lay with lignin, cellulose and related compounds.