William Kist is a professor emeritus at Kent State University, where he taught literacy courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels. A former high school English teacher and former language arts and social studies curriculum coordinator, he has been working with schools and districts on a national level for more than 20 years in the areas of integrating technology and using high-yield instructional strategies with struggling students.

Kist is the proud recipient of the 2017 Outstanding University English Language Arts Educator Award, given by the Ohio Council of Teachers of English Language Arts. He has recently directed Writing Ourselves, a project bringing together English teachers from nine area high schools to help struggling writers get ready for college, and was project director for College Today, a grant-funded project designed to provide college-level English and math instruction on a daily basis to two small cohorts of underrepresented students. His professional development has been offered via keynotes with audiences in the hundreds as well as via coaching, working with teachers one-on-one. Kist has authored over 50 articles and four books.