Although born in Georgia, Dr. William Wilson Hill spent many years dedicated to education of children of Alabama. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Oglethorpe University, a Master’s degree at the University of Alabama, and the Doctor of Education degree at Columbia University. He taught high school and was superintendent of schools in Fort Payne, Alabama, and assistant superintendent in Jefferson County, Alabama. In fact, the Jefferson County School Board granted him a one-year leave to serve as acting president of State Teachers College at Livingston. His tenure in Livingston would last ten years.

In the first year of his term there was a move to close the institution, but apparently those in state government had not bargained for Dr. Hill’s determination and his ability to mobilize the local delegation. By 1945 that battle was over and the school received its "regular appropriation" from the legislature. Dr. Hill then began a new battle because enrollment for the regular session of 1945-1946 was only 92 students.

Dr. Hill is said to have been "a public relations man with few peers," who made it his mission to travel the area meeting potential students. He was quoted in a Livingston newspaper saying, "our major purpose is to meet the needs of the students of this area both in educational offerings and in providing means for students to obtain their education at the lowest possible cost." Though made over fifty years ago, Dr. Hill’s statement can still be said of today’s University of West Alabama.

By the 1946-47 session, Dr. Hill’s recruiting trips combined with the return of World War II veterans had raised enrollment to 431.

Dr. Hill continued to lead a charge in public relations. He held an afternoon tea during "AEA Week" in Birmingham; he promoted radio programs

and other musical programs featuring student musicians and singers; he invited local teachers and principals to campus for meetings; and he invited local service clubs to hold meetings in the campus dining hall.

With growing enrollment, Dr. Hill expanded the faculty, expanded course offerings and added extension courses held off campus in the surrounding area. Dr. Hill emphasized the pre-professional programs in engineering, medicine and law and promoted a non-teaching minor in commerce.

During Dr. Hill’s term a few significant changes were made in campus life. The school yearbook was renamed "The Paragon," a name it still bears today. Publication of "The Life," the campus newspaper, was resumed after being discontinued during the war years. Tiger Stadium was built in 1952 on filled in land that was until that time known as "Crawdad Creek." Students became voting members of each of the ten faculty committees, and Hill organized a "Dean’s Cabinet" that consisted of student government officers, presidents of all clubs and organizations, the dean of women and the dean of the college.