William Kelly Simpson

William Kelly Simpson (January 3, 1928 – March 24, 2017) was an American professor of Egyptology, Archaeology, Ancient Egyptian literature, and Afro-Asiatic languages at Yale University.

He was one of several co-directors of the University of Pennsylvania Museum Yale University Expedition to Abydos, Egypt, which conducts archaeological excavations of ancient sites. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1983.

Personal life
Simpson was born on January 3, 1928, in New York City, to Kenneth F. Simpson (1895-1941) and Helen-Louise Knickerbacker Porter (1893-1981).

He married Marilyn Ellen Milton (1931—1980), a granddaughter of philanthropists John Davison Rockefeller Jr. William and Marilyn have two children:
 * Laura Knickerbacker Simpson (1954-2012)
 * Abigail Rockefeller Simpson (born 1958), married Todd Mydland.

Simpson died on March 24, 2017, at the age of 89.

Literature

 * Peter Manuelian (editor): Studies in Honor of William Kelly Simpson, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 1996 ISBN 0878463909