William was born to Joseph Shippen (1679–1741, son of
Edward Shippen, governor of Pennsylvania) and Abigail Grosse Shippen (1677–1716) at Philadelphia. His father was a prominent merchant. He built a large practice in Philadelphia. In 1735 he married Susannah Harrison. Shippen joined the vestrymen who founded the Second
Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia in 1742. He joined
Benjamin Franklin and other civic leaders to found the Public Academy in 1749 and served as one of its trustees. When it merged with another school to become the
College of Philadelphia, he served as a trustee of the college from 1755 to 1779; the College is now the
University of Pennsylvania. He was elected to the revived
American Philosophical Society in 1767, and served as its vice president from 1768-1769, and from 1779-1801. While teaching anatomy and surgery at the University of Pennsylvania, one of his pupils was future American president
William Henry Harrison. William's brother,
Edward Shippen III (1703–1781, grandfather of
Peggy Shippen) was one of the founders of
Princeton University, for which William served as a trustee from 1765 to 1796. The Pennsylvania Assembly chose Shippen as a delegate to the
Continental Congress on November 20, 1778. He represented his state during congressional sessions in 1779 and 1780, after which he returned to his medical practice. William remained active well into his eighties. He died at home in
Germantown in 1801 and is buried in the First Presbyterian Churchyard at Philadelphia. ==Family==