born in caledonia, ontario, he served during world war ii in the royal canadian navy from 1942 to 1945, becoming the youngest officer in the history of the canadian navy. his father william winegard was a veteran of both world wars, the first mayor of caledonia, ontario and the founder of winegard motors (caledonia). in 1952, william received his doctorate in metallurgical engineering from the university of toronto and he taught there until 1967. from 1967 to 1975, he was president and vice-chancellor of the university of guelph. in 1980, he was made a fellow of the american society for metals (asm).