William S. McKee earned a B.A. cum laude from Yale in 1966 and a J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1969, where he was an editor of the Law Review. After joining the faculty of UVA in 1969, he specialized in teaching in the areas of taxes and accounting. After leaving UVA Law, he joined the Treasury Department as Tax Legislative Counsel and later worked for the firm King and Spalding. McKee later co-founded the Washington, D.C.-based firm of McKee, Nelson, Ernst, and Young with UVA Law alumnus William Nelson.