William May Wightman

Bishop William May Wightman (29 January 1808 – 15 February 1882) was an American educator and clergyman. He served as the President of Wofford College from 1854 to 1859. He served as the Chancellor of Southern University in Greensboro, Alabama (now known as Birmingham–Southern College and located in Birmingham, Alabama) from 1860 to 1866. He became a Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South in 1866.

Early life William May Wightman was born on January 29, 1808, in Charleston, South Carolina. His father was William Wrightman. His mother, Matilda, was an immigrant who was born in Plymouth, England. His maternal grandparents were personal friends of Methodist theologian Adam Clarke. He served churches in Charleston, Orangeburg, Santee, Camden and Abbeville, South Carolina.

Personal life Wightman married Maria Davies, a Methodist who helped fundraise for the establishment of the Scarritt Bible and Training School in Kansas City, Missouri alongside Belle Harris Bennett. As a result, when the college changed its name to the Scarritt College for Christian Workers and it was relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, the Wightman Chapel designed by Henry C. Hibbs was named in her honor.

His "photographic portrait", done by Elmer Talmage Clark, is in the special collections of the Bridwell Library, located at the Perkins School of Theology on the Southern Methodist University campus in Dallas, Texas.