Bill White

Bill White's wife Andrea is the daughter of Arthur John Ferguson (1917–2008), a Louisiana State University graduate in mechanical engineering originally from New Orleans, and the former Patsi Wells, a native of Baton Rouge.

Andrea White has written several novels, one of which received the Golden Spur Award as well as being named to the Texas Bluebonnet List.

White and his wife Andrea are the parents of three children, Will, Elena and Stephen.

The Whites are members of St. Luke's United Methodist Church in Houston.

White graduated from Churchill High School before attending Harvard University on American Legion scholarships and graduating magna cum laude with a degree in economics.

At Harvard his roommate was Mir Murtaza Bhutto— son of former Pakistan's Prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

He then attended The University of Texas School of Law, where he was elected editor-in-chief of its law review and graduated with highest honors.

White also served as an administrator on the Board of Directors for the Baylor College of Medicine.

William Howard White (born June 16, 1954) is an American attorney, businessman and politician who was the 60th mayor of Houston from 2004 to 2010.

White began his career as a lawyer at Susman Godfrey, LLP, a leading law firm in Houston, from 1979 to 1993, where he practiced business litigation and anti-trust law, and eventually became partner.

Also running was Democratic Texas State Representative Sylvester Turner, who had run for mayor in 1991 (against then-incumbent Kathy Whitmire and real estate developer Bob Lanier).

Before serving as Mayor, White was an attorney and businessman and served as U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy under President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1995.

White is on the membership roster of the Council on Foreign Relations.

White was born and grew up in San Antonio.

He is the son of Bill and Gloria Avalon White, both public schoolteachers.

He and his wife have helped lead various charitable and civic organizations.

White is an avid cyclist and every year he leads Houston's annual "Bike to Work Day."

He also created the annual biking event "Tour de Houston" through historic Houston neighborhoods.

He served as U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy under President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1995.

He organized Frontera Resources, a developer of oil and gas in the Caspian Sea region, and was also the chairman of the Texas Democratic Party, from 1995 to 1998.

In that race, Turner was embroiled in an insurance scandal exposed in an investigation by Houston's ABC affiliate, KTRK-TV that eventually led to a 1996 lawsuit; Lanier went on to defeat Whitmire.

In the November election, White, along with Sanchez, defeated Turner.

In the runoff, White defeated Sanchez with 63 percent of the vote.

White was a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition, a bi-partisan group with a stated goal of "making the public safer by getting illegal guns off the streets."

The Coalition is co-chaired by Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

He was the president and CEO of WEDGE Group, an energy, construction and real estate company, from 1997 to 2004.

White has served on the board of directors for the North American Electric Reliability Council.

He was chairman for both the World Trade Division and the Environmental Advisory Committee, and served on the executive committee, for the Greater Houston Partnership.

He has also served on the board of directors for the Houston Quality of Life Coalition.

He is an official sponsor and supporter of the Amazing Faiths Project of Houston.

One of White's opponents in the race was Republican Orlando Sanchez, a Cuban-American and a former Houston City Councilman, who had unsuccessfully challenged Brown in a heated 2001 bid to become Houston's first Hispanic mayor.

In 2003, White, a Democrat, ran in Houston's officially nonpartisan mayoral election to succeed term-limited Mayor Lee Brown, who was the first African-American mayor of the city.

Running as a moderate with business experience, he appealed to Democrats and Republicans despite having little name recognition.

White's first term as mayor of Houston began on January 2, 2004.

He gained popularity during this term, which led to significant support for his reelection.

During this term, Houston hosted Super Bowl XXXVIII, the 2004 MLB All-Star Game, the 2006 NBA All-Star Game and the 2005 World Series.

White resigned from the group in July 2009.

White's staff said that the group's focus had grown from its original effort to prevent the sale of stolen guns.

Regarding a recent proposal to allow those with concealed gun permits to carry them into other states, White's staff added that he resigned the day that the group took out a newspaper advertisement denouncing that proposal.

A member of the Democratic Party, he was the Democratic nominee for Governor of Texas in the 2010 election, in which he lost to Republican Rick Perry.