William Kneeland Townsend (1849-1907) was an alumnus of both Yale College (1871) and the Law School (1874). Considered “one of Yale’s most brilliant sons” and “one of the most distinguished men in Connecticut,” Townsend was appointed to the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut in 1892, and elevated to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in 1902. During this period, Judge Townsend lectured on contracts at the Law School, and published a History of American Law of Patents and Trademarks, Copyrights, and Admiralty.

At the Law School, a professorship was established in his honor in 1925 and a library fund in 1942.