William Paxson Purcell III (born October 25, 1953) is an American politician who served as the fifth
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
of the
Metropolitan Government of
Nashville
Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
and
Davidson County, elected first in 1999 and reelected to a second term in 2003. He is a member of the
Democratic Party. On June 24, 2008 he was named director of
Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
's Institute of Politics (IOP) at the
John F. Kennedy School of Government. Purcell assumed the post on September 1, 2008. He was one of three co-chairs of the
Harvard University Allston Work Team. He is now in private practice of law in Nashville and an adjunct professor of Public Policy at Vanderbilt University.
Early life and education
Purcell was born in 1953 in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
and raised in the nearby suburb of
Wallingford, Pennsylvania. He attended
Hamilton College
Hamilton College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Clinton, Oneida County, New York, Clinton, New York. It was established as the Hamilton-Oneida Academy in 1793 and received its c ...
in
Clinton, New York where he served as Vice President of the Student Senate and was a columnist for the school newspaper. After graduating from Hamilton, Purcell attended law school at
Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...
in Nashville. He received his
Juris Doctor
A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...
degree in 1979 and began practicing at the West Tennessee Legal Services agency in
Jackson, Tennessee
Jackson is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Tennessee, United States. Located east of Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis and 130 Miles Southwest of Nashville, it is a regional center of trade for West Tennessee. Its total population wa ...
.
Political history
Tennessee legislature
In 1986, Purcell was elected to the
Tennessee House of Representatives
The Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee.
Constitutional requirements
According to the state constitution of 1870, this body is to consis ...
where he served for five terms. As
House Majority Leader and Chair of the Select Committee on Children and Youth, Purcell's work in the legislature positioned him in the forefront of education, health care, workers compensation, and criminal sentencing reforms.
Vanderbilt University
Purcell retired from the General Assembly in 1996 to become director of the Child and Family Policy Center at the Vanderbilt Institute of Public Policy Studies, a nationally recognized center building a bridge between academic research, politics, and best practices to benefit children and their families.
Mayor
Although many suspected that he would run for governor in 1998, Purcell instead announced that he would enter the race for Mayor of Metro Nashville. The incumbent mayor,
Phil Bredesen
Philip Norman Bredesen Jr. (; born November 21, 1943) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 48th governor of Tennessee from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was elected in ...
, opted not to run for a third term after discovering that a 1994 amendment limiting city council members to two consecutive terms appeared to be worded in a way that made it apply to mayors as well. Purcell's main challengers were former Mayor
Richard Fulton and then Vice Mayor Jay West. In the general election, Purcell came up just short of an outright majority, forcing him into a runoff with Fulton, who announced he would not actively contest the ensuing runoff. The runoff still had to take place per state law, however, and Purcell won. He was sworn in as mayor on September 24.
Purcell was reelected to a second term in 2003 with a record-setting 84.8 percent of the vote. Purcell is the second native Northerner to serve as mayor of Nashville (at least since the merger of Nashville and Davidson County in 1963); the first was Bredesen.
Retirement from public office
Purcell opted not to run for a third term due to the same amendment that led Bredesen to stand down after two terms, and stepped down at the end of his term in 2007. In the fall of 2007 he served as a fellow at Harvard University's Institute of Politics, and later as the Dean of the school of Public Service and Urban Affairs at
Tennessee State University
Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tennes ...
. He was succeeded as mayor by Metro's law director,
Karl Dean
Karl Foster Dean (born September 20, 1955) is an American politician who served as the 6th Mayor of Nashville, Tennessee from 2007 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as Nashville's Director of Law under Mayor Bill P ...
.
Personal life
Purcell and his wife Debbie Miller live in the historic
Lockeland Springs neighborhood of
East Nashville. Bill Purcell was a Board of Trustees Member at
St. Bonaventure University
St. Bonaventure University is a private university, private Franciscan university in St. Bonaventure, New York. It has 2,760 undergraduate and graduate students. The Order of Friars Minor, Franciscans established the university in 1858.
In ath ...
from 2011 to 2020.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Purcell, Bill
1953 births
20th-century mayors of places in Tennessee
21st-century mayors of places in Tennessee
Politicians from Philadelphia
Mayors of Nashville, Tennessee
Hamilton College (New York) alumni
Vanderbilt University alumni
Harvard Kennedy School faculty
Tennessee State University faculty
Living people
Members of the Country Music Association
People from Davidson County, Tennessee
20th-century members of the Tennessee General Assembly