Walter Maria Kotschnig was born in Judenburg, Austria on April 9, 1901. He attended elementary school (Volksschule) in his hometown of Judenburg and continued his secondary school studies (Realgymnasium) in Graz, Austria, where he headed one of the first student governments organized in Austria. Kotschnig continued his university studies at the University of Graz, moving to the University of Kiel in 1922 where he received his Ph.D. in political science in 1924. In the same year, he married Elined Prys, a psychological consultant from Talgarth, Wales.

In 1925 Kotschnig joined the International Student Service in Geneva, Switzerland, a commitment which lasted nearly twenty years. During the following year, Kotschnig spent three months touring the United States speaking on behalf of the International Student Service. The next year (1927) he became General Secretary of the organization, a position he maintained until 1934, when he became involved with activities of the League of Nations, serving as Director of the High Commission for Refugees from Germany from 1934 to1935.

Because of his outspoken criticisms of Hitler and National Socialism, Kotschnig realized he could not remain in Austria with his family, and in 1936 he immigrated to the United States with his wife and three children. He secured a position as Professor of Comparative Education at Smith and Mt. Holyoke Colleges in Massachusetts, which he held from 1937 to 1944, but still continued to lecture throughout the country on educational topics, with special emphasis on education in Nazi Germany, as well as on the dangers of National Socialism. During this time, Kotschnig also remained active in the International Student Service and its eventual successor, the World Student Service.

In 1944, Kotschnig began his diplomatic career with his appointment to U.S. government service as a specialist on international organization. In this capacity, he attended the Dumbarton Oaks Conferences in Washington, D.C. (1944) and in San Francisco (1945) in preparation for the establishment of the United Nations, as well as preparatory conferences for the formation of the United Nations Economic and Social Council. Over the next three decades, Kotschnig served as Director of the Office of International Economic and Social Affairs (1949-1961), Special Advisor in the Bureau of International Organization Affairs (1962-1965), and as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations (1965-1971). In his capacity of Deputy U.S. Representative on the Economic and Social Council for over twenty-five years, Kotschnig attended 45 out of 49 sessions of the U.N. Economic and Social Council before his retirement in 1971.

In addition to his speaking engagements, Kotschnig also published numerous articles in journals and books. His book publications include: The University in a Changing World (with his wife, 1932); Unemployment in the Learned Professions (1937); and Slaves Need No Leaders (1943). Walter Maria Kotschnig died in Newtown, Pennsylvania on June 23, 1985.