December 10, 2020
Virtual Event
Speaker: Bill King
Bill is a life-long resident of the Houston area. He was born and raised in the Clear Lake area, attending Clear Creek High School before going on to the University of Houston to earn an undergraduate degree in political science and a law degree.
He has enjoyed a varied career as a businessman and a lawyer. He began his career with a turbulent, and ultimately unsuccessful, foray in the savings & loan industry in the 1980s. His experience in that industry is retold in his 2009 book, Saving Face. Later in his career Bill served as the national managing partner for Linebarger, Goggan, Blair & Sampson, the president of Southwest Airport Services, Inc. and of counsel to Bracewell & Giuliani.
As an Author
Bill became a published author in 2004 with an opinion essay in the Houston Chronicle on hurricane evacuation. That essay lead to a 10-year relationship with the Chronicle and the publication of over 400 columns and editorials. From 2011-2015, Bill was a member of the Chronicle’s editorial board. In 2015, Bill published a compilation of his columns in Unapologetically Moderate.
As a Leader
In 1996, Bill was elected to the Kemah City Council. He later served as mayor of Kemah from 2001-2005. He was a candidate for mayor of Houston in 2015. He came in second in the general election but narrowly lost the run-off, in the closest mayoral election in Houston’s history. Throughout his life Bill has had a strong interest in a wide range of social, environmental and political issues. He has served on the boards of Interfaith Ministries, the Galveston Bay Foundation, Texas Southern University, Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, Fire Fighters Foundation of Houston, Memorial Hermann Foundation, Houston Methodist Debakey Heart and Vascular Center Advisory Council, CYCLE, the HISD Foundation and many others.
Bill has been recognized by the American Leadership Forum with its Jaworski Leadership Award, the Galleria Chamber of Commerce with its Texas Legend Award, the Galveston Bay Foundation with its Guardian of the Bay Award, and the National Hurricane Conference with its Outstanding Achievement Award.
