William B. Dunning was born on April 11, 1874 in New York City. He attended private and public schools in New York city as a child and in 1895 graduated from the New York College of Dentistry with his D.D.S. Dunning served with the 3rd Division and Headquarters, First Battalion, N.M., N.Y. for five years. He spent some of that time as signalman aboard the U.S.S. Yankee during the Spanish-American War. The crew of the U.S.S. Yankee, the First Naval Battalion of the State of New York, a volunteer unit, was the first to go under fire during the Spanish-American War in 1898. Dunning resigned as a lieutenant from the Navy in1902. In 1903, Dunning married Rose Morse. Together they had three children, the eldest, James Morse Dunning serving as Dean of the Harvard University School of Dental Medicine. Dunning served as Lecturer and Adjunct Professor of Operative Dentistry with the College of Dental and Oral Surgery of New York from 1907-1912. In 1912, he began working as Editor of the Journal of Allied Dental Societies. He also served as dentist on the Medical Advisory Board during WWI. From 1916-1917, Dunning served as President of the First District Dental Society, State of New York and as Professor of Operative Dentistry at Columbia University from 1919-1924. From 1924 on he was a professor of Theory and Practice of Dentistry at Columbia University. Dunning remained active with the officers and crew of the U.S.S. Yankee until his death, attending Annual dinners and serving as Chairman of the U.S.S. Yankee Book Committee during the 1920s. Dunning died on July 21, 1959.
From the description of [Dr. William B. Dunning collection]. 1898-1945. (Pritzker Military Library). WorldCat record id: 231691250
