William Paul "Bill" Thurston (October 30, 1946 - August 21, 2012) was an American mathematician. He was a pioneer in the field of low-dimensional topology. In 1982, he was awarded the Fields Medal for his contributions to the study of 3-manifolds.

Thurston was born on October 30, 1946 in Washington, D.C. to a Helen and Paul Thurston, an aeronautical engineer.

Thurston died on August 21, 2012, at the age of 65, in Rochester, New York, after a battle for two years with melanoma.