William Nickley is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Design at The Ohio State University. He holds an MFA in Design and a BSD in Industrial Design from The Ohio State University. He researches social design practice and teaches courses in the industrial design major. 

With eight years of industry experience prior to his current appointment—ranging from consultancy to in-house, freelance, and non-profit leadership roles—Nickley specializes in merging industrial design expertise with social-impact initiatives. As a member of the Ohio State DESIS Lab, he works at the crossroads of practice, pedagogy, and research; he has introduced two complementary frameworks—design-based making (DBM) and person-centered design (PCD)—to guide how students and community participants navigate the creative process to envision and enact more just and equitable futures through design. 

He currently employs co-design in a number of grant-funded projects to include LGBTQIA+ youth in interdisciplinary research efforts to develop culturally competent healthcare practices. He also explores youth design-based making in out-of-school settings, drawing on conceptual frameworks from Positive Youth Development to understand how design and technology can empower youth to enact positive and lasting change; this includes a grant-funded project with Columbus City Schools, as well as engagement with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Ohio.

William is co-founding board member of Local Tech Heroes, a nonprofit engaging underserved communities in the central Ohio region through design. He serves on the departmental Diversity & Belonging, Studios for Art & Design Research, and Industrial Design Area committees, as well as the Arts & Sciences faculty senate. He serves as faculty advisor to the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) Ohio State student chapter. He was elected to serve on IDSA's Education Council as the Central District's Representative for 2024, and won the IDSA Young Educator Award in 2024.