Bill Purcell (politician)

Bill Purcell (fifth from left) at the reopening of a children's theater in Nashville

Bill Purcell (born October 25, 1953 in Philadelphia ) is an American politician ( Democrat ) and former mayor of Nashville .

Life

Purcell earned a bachelor's degree from Hamilton College and law from Vanderbilt University and practiced law . From 1981 to 1986 he worked for the city of Nashville. Starting in 1986, he served Bill Purcell for five terms in the Tennessee House of Representatives . He was the majority leader there from 1990 to 1996. He was also the chairman of the Committee on Children and Young People. From 1996 to 1999 he was the founder and then director of the Center for Child and Family Policy at the Vanderbilt Institute of Public Policy Studies. In 1999 he was elected Mayor of Nashville . In 2003 he was re-elected with a result of 84.8%. His second and last term of office ended in 2007. The focus of his work as mayor was on strengthening the education system and the inner city. In 2006 he was named Public Official of the Year .

In January 2008, he was founding dean of the College of Public Service and Urban Affairs at Tennessee State University . From September 1, 2008, he was director at Harvard's Institute of Politics (IOP) at the John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Bill Purcell is married with one daughter. He lives in the district Locke Country Springs in East Nashville .

Web links

• Purcell, Bill at www.ourcampaigns.com (English)
• Former Nashville Mayor Bill Purcell Named Director of Harvard's Institute of Politics June 2008 at www.iop.harvard.edu (English)
• Biography on the occasion of the mayoral election campaign 1999 on www.smartvoter.org (English)