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Bill Ford and Mark Fields have made an assessment of the management team in the Americas, and we expect they will review certain leadership changes with our board in the very near future
Three Ford execs departing Oct 11, 2005
Alex was a great friend, colleague and leader of the extended family of Ford employees around the world
Former Ford CEO Trotman dead Apr 26, 2005
He's the right man for the job, and the right man to ensure that in this extremely competitive automobile business the Ford Motor Company remains focused on what it needs to do to succeed
Ford Motor names Padilla president Dec 09, 2004
There is nothing going on in Silicon Valley or anywhere else ... that is more advanced than what is going on here
Auto leaders hail electric cars as savior Jan 22, 2011
The future of transportation will be a blend of things like Zipcar, public transportation and private car ownership
Auto Outlook: Saab's demise sign of times Sep 11, 2011
William Clay "Bill" Ford Jr. (born May 3, 1957 in Detroit, Michigan), is the great-grandson of Henry Ford, and serves as the executive chairman of Ford Motor Company, Ford also served as the President, CEO, and COO until turning over those roles to former Boeing executive Alan Mulally in September 2006. Ford is also the Vice Chairman of the Detroit Lions NFL franchise.
Ford was born in Detroit, Michigan, the great-grandson of both Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone. His father is William Clay Ford, Sr., and his mother is Martha Firestone. On his mother's side his grandparents are Harvey S. Firestone, Jr. and Elizabeth Parke Firestone. On his father's side his grandparents are Edsel Bryant Ford and Eleanor Lowthian Clay. Edsel Ford II, son of Henry Ford II and also a board member, is Bill's cousin. Bill has three sisters: Martha Morse (who has 3 children), Shelia Hamp (who has 3 children), and Elizabeth Kontulis. Bill attended the Hotchkiss School in Connecticut and went on to graduate from Princeton University in 1979, having majored in history and served as president of The Ivy Club. He played on the Princeton rugby team as well. In 1984 he received an S.M. in Management as a Sloan Fellow from the MIT Sloan School of Management. He is married to Lisa Vanderzee, and they have four children, all living in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
He joined Ford in 1979 and 1981 held a variety of positions, beginning in product development and on the financial staff, a grooming ground for future executives. He served several years as a mid-ranking executive in product development. He also briefly headed the Climate Control Division (since divested from the company as part of the Visteon spinoff). At the time of the Ford 2000 reorganization, he was in charge of heavy truck operations.