From 1962 to 1999 Chaney held the George McKendree Steele endowed chair in history, and from 1968 to 1971 he was the chair of the history department. He was appointed a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 1977, and was affiliated with the American Historical Association, the Modern Language Association, the American Society of Church History, the Conference on British Studies, the American Association of University Professors, and Phi Beta Kappa. In 1966–1967 was made a grantee in the American Council of Learned Societies, and in 1971 he was named an Outstanding Educator of America. In 1973, he was awarded the Edward and Rosa Uhrig Award for Excellent Teaching, given to a Lawrence faculty member "to give tangible recognition of outstanding performance in the actual teaching process, and for leadership in the quest to insure that students reach their full development as individual human beings and as future leaders of our society". Shortly before his retirement, Chaney was named to "Who's Who Among America's Teachers, 1998". On his 88th birthday, the university established the "William A. Chaney Fund for Excellence in History", with grants to students pursuing significant research.
