He was born on July 2, 1923, in
New York City to
William Bell Dinsmoor and Zillah F. Pierce (1886–1960). Dinsmoor studied at
Phillips Exeter Academy and
Columbia University, taking time out for active service in the military during
World War II in India and China. He received a B.A. in modern languages in 1947 and degrees in architecture: Bachelor’s (1947) and Master’s (1951) from Columbia University. He married Mary Higgins on September 4, 1948. That marriage produced four children: Margaret Park Dinsmoor, Diane Marie Dinsmoor, William Bell Dinsmoor III, and Robert Davidson Dinsmoor. In the 1950s, Dinsmoor worked as an architect in Colorado, New Mexico, and El Paso Texas. They divorced on January 7, 1966 in El Paso, Texas. Dinsmoor moved to Greece to assist
Lucy Taxis Shoe Meritt with her survey of
Greek architectural moulding and
Carl Blegen on his books on
Troy and
Pylos. He subsequently married Anastasia N. Dinsmoor. That marriage produced a son, Paul Dinsmoor. In the field, Dinsmoor worked with
Oscar Broneer and helped publish the finds of the temple of
Poseidon in
Athens. In 1966, he was appointed architect for the archeological excavations of the
Agora in
Athens, a position which he held until his death. He received the
Gold Medal Award for Distinguished Archaeological Achievement in 1969 from the
Archaeological Institute of America. Dinsmoor's main research focused on the
propylaia to the
acropolis in
Athens, working to study its construction and establish its configuration during various phases. He died on July 7, 1988, in
Athens, Greece, aged 65. Dinsmoor's papers are archived in Athens at the
American School of Classical Studies. ==Selected works==