William J. Quirk (born September 1, 1946) is an American politician who served in the

California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature (the upper house being the California State Senate). The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, Califor ...

from 2012 to 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, Quirk represented the 20th Assembly district, which encompasses the southern

East Bay The East Bay is the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area and includes cities along the eastern shores of San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay. The region has grown to include inland communities in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. Wi ...

of the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

. Prior to being elected to the Assembly in 2012, he was a

nuclear physicist Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter. Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies the ...

and served on the Hayward

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

Education

After earning his Ph.D. in astrophysics from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

at the age of 24, Quirk became a

postdoctoral fellow A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). Postdocs most commonly, but not always, have a temporary academ ...

at the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small group of institutes ...

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial d ...

, where he published papers on

galactic Galactic is an American funk band from New Orleans, Louisiana. Origins and background Formed in 1994 as an octet (under the name Galactic Prophylactic) and including singer Chris Lane and guitarist Rob Gowen, the group was soon pared down to a ...

structure.

Career

Physicist

Upon returning to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, Quirk joined

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

as a research scientist and developed the

Goddard Institute for Space Studies The Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) is a laboratory in the Earth Sciences Division of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center affiliated with the Columbia University Earth Institute. The institute is located at Columbia University in Ne ...

climate model, which he used for some of the first studies of climate change. Quirk left NASA to work at the management consulting firm

McKinsey and Company McKinsey & Company (informally McKinsey or McK) is an American multinational strategy and management consulting firm that offers professional services to corporations, governments, and other organizations. Founded in 1926 by James O. McKinse ...

in their computer system practice. Quirk then worked in the computer industry in

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that is a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical area of the Santa Clara Valley ...

before settling into a career at the

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is a Federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center in Livermore, California, United States. Originally established in 1952, the laboratory now i ...

(LLNL), where he established himself in the fields of atmospheric science and nuclear technology design. Quirk became this country's expert in nuclear programs in numerous foreign countries. Quirk prepared reports for the

Presidential Daily Brief The President's Daily Brief, sometimes referred to as the President's Daily Briefing or the President's Daily Bulletin, is a top-secret document produced and given each morning to the president of the United States; it is also distributed to a ...

and played a key role in the negotiations for the

Nuclear Test Ban Treaty The Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT), formally known as the 1963 Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and Under Water, prohibited all test detonations of nuclear weapons except for those conducted underground. It ...

. Teaching physics at

Caltech The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private university, private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small g ...

and

UC Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University ...

helped Quirk formulate his lifelong interest in education. Quirk was a physicist at

LLNL Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is a Federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center in Livermore, California, United States. Originally established in 1952, the laboratory now i ...

for 26 years (1979-2005). In 1996, he helped break the deadlock in th
negotiations
of the

Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) is a multilateral treaty to ban nuclear weapons test explosions and any other nuclear explosions, for both civilian and military purposes, in all environments. It was adopted by the United Nati ...

. In the early 1990s, he also showed that the plutonium parts of nuclear weapons could be reused. This resulted in the closing of the Rocky Flats plutonium fabrication facility near

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

. This removed the threat of a major environment disaster in the

metropolitan area. There had already been a major fire at the facility that had threatened to spread

plutonium oxide Plutonium(IV) oxide, or plutonia, is a chemical compound with the formula Pu O2. This high melting-point solid is a principal compound of plutonium. It can vary in color from yellow to olive green, depending on the particle size, temperature and ...

across the metropolitan area.

Politics

City Council

Quirk served from 2004-12 on the Hayward

. While on the Council, Quirk served on the Board of Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency, and the Hayward Area Shoreline Planning Agency. While on the city council, Quirk was dedicated to revitalizing Hayward through promoting jobs and safe and clean neighborhoods. Quirk also served on the city's Hayward-Ghazni Sister City Committee, promoting relations between the city and the province of Ghazni, Afghanistan, while on the Council.

California State Assembly

Quirk is the only rocket engineer to serve in the California legislature. He has a Ph.D. in

astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline, James Keeler, said, astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the ...

from

(1970). Since being elected to the California State Assembly in November 2012, Quirk has served on five committees: Rules, which determines what committees bills are sent to; Appropriations, which determines whether bills that appropriate funds can proceed to a vote of the full assembly; Utilities and Commerce, that deals with the state's telecommunication, electric, gas, and water utilities; Agriculture; and Public Safety. In 2014, Quirk authored a bill that made it easier to get domestic violence restraining orders in California. Th
bill
AB2089 went into effect January 1, 2015. In 2016, Quirk authored Assembly Bill 2130 titled "An act to amend Section 281 of the Public Utilities Code, relating to telecommunications," which would freeze the California Advanced Services Fund broadband infrastructure subsidy program and replace it with what amounts to a $100 million no-strings gift from the taxpayers to (mostly) AT&T, according to Steve Blum of Tellus Venture Associates. In September 2016, the California State University East Bay Educational Foundation of Quick's district was selected as one of 18 recipients nationwide that shared in $10 million from AT&T through the Aspire Connect to Success Competition. Hundreds of organizations applied to the competition, which is part of Aspire, AT&T's philanthropic initiative. In 2017, Quirk was principal coauthor of the controversial California Senate SB 649 which would remove a city's ability to control where 5G technology is placed and transfer that power to the state. In 2018, Quirk was the sponsor of a bill to allow

PG&E The Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is an American investor-owned utility (IOU). The company is headquartered at Kaiser Center, in Oakland, California. PG&E provides natural gas and electricity to 5.2 million households in the norther ...

to defray the cost of settlements related to their negligence in the

October 2017 Northern California Wildfires The October 2017 Northern California wildfires, also known as the Northern California firestorm, North Bay Fires, and the Wine Country Fires were a series of 250 wildfires that started burning across the state of California, United States, ...

by forcing ratepayers to pay. The measure proved controversial, with noted legal researcher

Erin Brockovich Erin Brockovich (née Pattee; born June 22, 1960) is an American paralegal, consumer advocate, and environmental activist who was instrumental in building a case against Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) involving groundwater contamination ...

stating “It’s another backdoor deal for them, it’s inexcusable. I hope the state stops enabling their behavior by giving them passes time and time again.”< On December 12, 2021, Quirk announced that he would not be a candidate for reelection. He left office on November 30, 2022, and was succeeded by labor executive Liz Ortega.

=2012 California State Assembly

=2014 California State Assembly

=2016 California State Assembly

=2018 California State Assembly

=2020 California State Assembly

Personal life

Quirk and his wife Laurel moved to the Hayward area in 1978. They raised two children who attended Moreau Catholic High School and the University of California. Since moving to Hayward in 1978, Quirk served the community as president of Hayward Friends of the Library and Chair, Hayward Library Commission. He is a member of Hayward Rotary, the Hayward Arts Council and the Hayward Area Historical Society.

References

External links

*
Re-Elect Bill Quirk Campaign website

Scientific Papers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Quirk, Bill Democratic Party members of the California State Assembly 1946 births Living people San Francisco Bay Area politicians Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni American astrophysicists Government of Hayward, California 21st-century members of the California State Legislature