Bill grew up in Lakewood and Shaker Heights, and often took drawing classes at the then Cleveland School of Art, but he enrolled in the pre-med track at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. That was until the freshman cut through the School of Architecture to get to his dorm one day, but was stopped in his tracks by the detailed architectural drawings and watercolor renderings on the walls. He transferred to the school the following year and earned his Bachelor of Architecture in 1952.

After a short stint in the military, he spent the summer of 1956 studying at L’Ecole de Beaux-Arts, Fontainebleau, France, and then enrolled in the Cranbrook Academy, which follows the precepts of Eero Saarinen and the Finnish School of Urban Planning. There, he earned his Masters of Architecture & Urban Planning.

In 2015, he received the Cleveland Arts Prize – Robert Bergman Award.