William Stern may refer to:
- William Stern (psychologist) (1871–1938), German psychologist and philosopher
- William Stern (businessman) (born 1935), owner of the British Stern Group of companies
- William Joseph Stern (1891–1965), physicist and jet engine developer
- William M. Stern, rabbi at Temple Sinai, Oakland, California
- The father of Baby M, subject of a child surrogacy dispute in the United States
- Bill Stern (1907–1971), U.S. actor and sportscaster
Famous quotes containing the word stern:
“It was her stern necessity: all things
Are of one pattern made; bird, beast, and flower,
Deceive us, seeming to be many things,
And are but one. Beheld far off, they differ
As God and devil; bring them to the mind,
They dull its edge with their monotony.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)