William Graves Carleton was a well-known lecturer in Florida where he spoke in front of numerous large audiences at UF. Year after year, students gave him the nickname “Wild Bill” because of his vigor and enthusiastic delivery. At one time, he was voted the most influential teacher at the university by the faculty. The Independent Alligator named him the most popular teacher on campus and Man of the Year.

Carleton came to Gainesville after completing his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Indiana University. He earned a juris doctor degree at UF during a time when only the top graduate in each class could obtain one. Carleton began teaching history and political science at UF in 1926 as an instructor. He became an associate professor of social sciences in 1936, serving as chairman of this department from 1940-57.
He became a full professor of history and political science in 1957 and retired in 1962.

Carleton’s activities were not confined to UF. He worked for democratic presidential candidates in 1928 (Al Smith) and 1932 (Franklin D. Roosevelt). He was a frequent speaker at professional, civic and educational gatherings. In 1959, he was invited to be one of the principal speakers at the National Governor’s Conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

After his retirement in 1962, he began lecturing at the federal government’s Executive Center Seminars in Berkeley, Calif., and Kings Point, N.Y. He delivered lectures on foreign policy at the U.S. Naval War College at Newport, R.I., and regularly spoke at college campuses across the nation.

The William Carleton Auditorium, the largest hall on the UF campus, was named in his honor in 1971. After he died in 1982, the William G. Carleton Scholarship Fund was established in his memor