Bill Purcell '76, mayor of Nashville, Tenn., will be honored as one of nine "public officials of the year" from across the country, a prestigious award for effective leadership, by Governing magazine. David Ewing, senior vice president for government relations and community improvement at the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, nominated Purcell for the award based on the mayor's work on education, public safety and economic development. Purcell, formerly a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives, took office in 1999 and is credited with "…Nashville's emergence as one of the top business locales in the country" in the November issue of Governing magazine.
Citing Purcell's ability as a manager and communicator the profile notes that several major corporations have recently moved their headquarters to Nashville and that Purcell has succeeded in "…promoting downtown housing, prodding the school system to improve, luring new businesses to the community and introducing a management system, based on performance audits, that has revitalized a once-tired city hall bureaucracy."
Governing magazine will honor the recipients in Washington on Nov. 15. Purcell, who plans to attend with his wife, will be the only mayor in the group, which also includes the governor of Mississippi and the speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. According to the Tennessean, Purcell said the honor is "an important recognition of Nashville and the work we've been doing, and I'm proud of my city and proud of my team."