A memorial essay by a member of the Michigan Philosophy Department states that "William Frankena contributed as widely to moral philosophy and its neighboring areas as anyone in that remarkable group that dominated English-speaking ethics from the end of World War II well into the 1980s.
The University has created a chair for the "Carl G. Hempel & William K. Frankena Distinguished University Professor," and annually awards the William K Frankena Prize for excellence in philosophy to an undergraduate student.