William Timothy Sanders (1926–2008) was an American anthropologist who specialized in the archaeology of Mesoamerica. Sanders was born into a working-class family in Patchogue, New York. His interest in Mesoamerica was sparked by reading William H. Prescott's History of the Conquest of Mexico. During his high school years, he struck up a friendship with classmate and fellow future anthropologist Harold C. Conklin. After serving in the United States Navy during World War II, he undertook his undergraduate and postgraduate education at Harvard University under the G.I. Bill, completing his bachelor's degree in 1949, his master's degree in 1953 and a doctorate in 1957. His senior honours thesis, The Urban Revolution in Central Mexico, applied the cultural evolutionary model outlined by V. Gor