Background Information on William H. Reynolds
Bill Reynolds, age 45, is a native of Illinois and has worked extensively in the public sector, including managing several local governments. His latest role was serving as Deputy County Administrator and Chief Operations Officer for Washtenaw County, Michigan (pop. 360,000) where he was tasked with providing leadership, oversight and management to eighteen departments, and supervising the daily operations of over 1,300 employees. Prior to being named Deputy County Administrator, he served as the County Administrator for Chippewa County, Wisconsin from 2007 to 2010.
Bill was raised in Hillsboro, IL and attended Greenville College, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree cum laude in History, Political Science and Sociology in 1988. He then attended DePaul University College of Law as a Dean’s Honor Scholar, and served as the Vice President of the Student Bar Association. He graduated in 1991 with a Juris Doctor.
Following law school, Bill served as a prosecutor in the United States Marine Corps and tried over 200 criminal cases in federal court prior to becoming the senior legal advisor to the 1st Marine Division. In 1998 he was recognized as the Marine Corps’ nominee for both the American Bar Association Military Attorney of the Year, and the Federal Bar Association Attorney of the Year.
In 1999, Bill left active duty, attended the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and graduated with a Master in Public Administration in 2000. While at Harvard, Bill received the JFK School’s Service Award for Exceptional Commitment to Community and Public Service.
Upon leaving Harvard, Bill became press secretary to senior U.S. Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, and later became the senator’s Chief of Staff and Director of Communications.
In 2004, Bill took a leave of absence from Senator Specter’s office to join his Marine Corps reserve unit on a military deployment to Iraq where he was a senior officer leading the team responsible for Civil/Military operations in the volatile Al Anbar province. Among his accomplishments in Iraq were participating in both the planning and execution of the second battle for Fallujah, coordinating the post-battle assessment of the city’s infrastructure, and being named the senior civil affairs and reconstruction advisor to the province’s Iraqi governor.
Upon returning from Iraq, Bill was a leader in the successful U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings of both Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Sam Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court of the United States.
Reynolds retired from the U.S. Marine Corps in January of 2011 after 27 years of service. He is married and has two young sons. His wife is an attorney specializing in business litigation, and also serves as a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve.
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