Doctor William M. Moir was born on July 7, 1905. He attended Roanoke College and graduated in 1925 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science. Moir continued his education at the University of Virginia, where he studied medicine and earned his M.S. in Pharmacology in 1932 and his M.D. in medicine in 1933. He served as an instructor at VUA for a time before enlisting in the U.S. Navy for three years beginning in 1943.
Once he returned to Roanoke in 1947, Moir established a practice in internal medicine. He earned a distinguished reputation as a medical practitioner before retiring in 1986, punctuated by his appointment as chief-of-staff at Roanoke Memorial Hospital.
In 1993, Moir established a trust that funds an annual scholarship at the college designed to assist students pursuing pre-med studies. Moir served on the college's Health Professional Steering Committee, the Kresge Science Initiative Endowment Committee, and was a member of the Society of 1842.
Moir married his wife, Jane Hildreth Moir on December 20, 1933, and together they had two children; Edwin L. Mori and Sally Moir Walker.
William M. Moir received the Roanoke College Medal in 1994.