William Adair enjoys an international reputation as a gilder, conservator, and frame historian. He began his career with the Smithsonian Institution at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington. He studied gilding and frame history in Europe and America, and in 1982 founded Gold Leaf Studios. Under his direction, the company has grown to include a multinational staff of specialists trained in traditional methods of frame making and conservation.

In 1991, the American Academy in Rome recognized his achievements by awarding him the prestigious Rome Prize in Design, which allowed him to spend a further six months immersed in the study of European frame making.

Bill continues to write and lecture widely on the art of the frame. He is the founding director of the International Institute for Frame Study and a founding member of the Society of Gilders. He has curated three highly regarded exhibitions on the American frame, and is now at work on another that traces the evolution of frame design.

He holds a BFA in Studio Art from the University of Maryland. In 2004, his paintings were shown at galleries in Washington, California, Atlanta, and Florida. In 2005, a documentary film about his role in a significant conservation project was shown at the Italian Embassy in Washington.