Painter, printmaker, and designer William Fredrick Rauschnabel was born in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1883. His early life and education are sparsely noted, but it is known that immigrated to the U.S. in 1905, settling in San Anselmo, California. He taught at Mills College in Oakland and then the College of Marin (then known as the Marin Junior College) beginning in 1931, where he was the head of the Art Department for 20 years before moving to Sierra City, California. Additionally, he taught art classes at San Quentin State Prison. He included in his design work diamond jewelry for a firm in San Francsico and decorative book design and illustration. He died in Sierra City in 1947.

His work is held in the collections of Mills College, the Crocker Art Museum, and the College of Marin.

Exhibitions: California State Fair, 1930; Marin AA, 1930; Oakland Art Gallery, 1932; SFMA, 1935; GGE, 1939.

Membership: San Francisco AA; Calif. SE; Marin Soc. of Artists (co-founder, 1927).