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M. Wayne Bell was born in Luling, Texas in 1933 and graduated from Kermit High School in Kermit, Tex., in 1950. After having served in the U.S. Navy, 1955-57, he received his Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1960, and attended the University of Delaware's Winterthur Post-Graduate Program in American Decorative Arts. He worked as an apprentice architect with Neuhardt and Babb in Midland, Texas, 1960-64, and then worked for the University of Texas' office of Facilities of Planning and Construction, 1964-68. Bell developed a professional interest in restoration architecture through work on the George W. Littlefield House, a historic home on the University of Texas (UT) campus, and the Winedale Historical Center, an outdoor museum and study center dedicated to Texas history located in Round Top, Texas. In 1968 he went to the Texas State Historical Survey Committee, now the Texas Historical Commission, and became the first state restoration architect, serving as director of the National Register Program in Texas. In 1972, he began work for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, where he was chief of the Historic Sites and Restoration branch, then returned to UT to teach full-time, initially in the American Civilization program and then as the Meadows Centennial Professor of Architecture in the School of Architecture.

In 1973, Bell helped establish at the UT School of Architecture a master's degree in historical preservation program, one of only four in the country at this time. In 1992, the Heritage Society of Austin, Inc., recognized this program and Bell's leadership with their Education Award. As director of the Winedale Historical Center (1967-1994), Bell began the Winedale Preservation Institute, which offered a historic structures documentation course for students from various Texas universities. Bell shared his interest in downtown revitalization efforts with his students through Main Street projects in various Texas towns. He retired from UT in 1995 but remains a professor emeritus.

Concurrently with his UT work, Bell also was a founder and senior principal of Bell, Klein and Hoffman, originally Wayne Bell and Associates, an Austin architectural firm specializing in historic preservation. The firm worked on restoration projects such as the Paramount Theatre, the Franklin Savings, the Littlefield House, Hirschfeld House, Austin History Center, Walter Tips Building, the Davis Buildings, Hannig Row, and the Old Millett Opera House (Austin Club). The firm received the Carl Burnette Outstanding Service Merit Award in 1985 for its contributions to the beautification of Austin. Bell sometimes built class assignments around the firm's projects.

Additional service to the architectural community included appointment by Governor Mark White to the Architect of the Capitol search committee and as first chairman of the Historic Landmark Commission for Austin, where he was instrumental in preparing the Historic Zoning Ordinance. He was active in other organizations: National Council for Preservation Education; National Register of Historic Places project; Strand Planning Committee for Galveston; and the Texas Society of Architectural Historians. Among other honors, he was named an American Institute of Architects Fellow in 1985, recognized with the Heritage Society of Austin's Architecture Award of Merit eleven times between 1973 and 1985, and in 1999 was the first architect to be honored with the Sue and Frank McBee Visionary Award.

Bell's historic preservation involvement continues beyond his retirement with his position as Texas Main Street Architect for the Texas Historical Commission (2003- ). He also has served as adviser for projects such as the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long Center for the Performing Arts and city park on the south bank of Town Lake and is an associate consultant with David Hoffman, Architects.