William Spruance (1873-1935) was an electrical engineer and corporate officer in the DuPont Company. He was born September 26, 1873 to Judge William Corbite Spruance (1831–1913) and Marie Louisa Spotswood (1834–1901), and was educated at Princeton University. On May 4, 1907, he married Alice Moore Lea Spruance (1876-1967), the daughter of Delaware governor Preston Lea (1841-1916) and his first wife Adelaide Moore (1846-1888).

He was for a time, a shop student at the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company. Spruance then became assistant engineer for the Wilmington City Electric Company, manager of the Cellulose Products Company, and a construction engineer of Wilmington, Delaware.

In 1903, Spruance joined E.I. du Pont de Nemours Company and worked in the Explosives Department. He was assistant to Harry G. Haskell (1870-1951), director of the High Explosives Operating Department, and afterwards director of that department.

In 1918, he resigned from DuPont to enter the Ordnance Reserve Corps, where he was eventually promoted to colonel. He was made a special assistant to the chief of ordnance in charge of chemicals, propellants, and explosives; and later was chief of the explosives and loading division. Upon his honorable discharge in 1919, Spruance was awarded the distiguished service medal.

Following the war, Spruance returned to the DuPont Company as special assistant to Irenee du Pont (1876-1963). In the few years after, Spruance was elected a director of the company and a member of the executive committee, vice president in charge of the production dpeartment, director of the DuPont Fiber-silk Company (later changed to DuPont Rayon Company), and name chairman of the board for the Fiber-silk Company.

Spruance died January 9, 1935 in Wilmington.