Bill McBride has extensive experience with business organizations and groups in Florida and nationally. In the year 2000 he served as Chair of the Investment Advisory Committee of the State Board of Administration which manages and oversees the State of Florida Retirement Fund. He is also a past Chair and current board member of the Florida Chamber of Commerce Foundation and a past recipient of the Chairman’s Award for Most Valuable Member of the State Chamber. Mr. McBride currently serves as a Board member of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation in the College of Business at the University of Florida. He is a former Chair of the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce and a former member of the Florida Council of 100. In the year 2000, Mr. McBride was inducted into the Tampa Bay Business Hall of Fame.
Bill McBride is currently a senior partner of the law firm of Barnett, Bolt, Kirkwood, Long & McBride, specializing in corporate and commercial law with an emphasis upon advising companies in mergers and acquisitions. He is a member of the Florida Bar and the Bar Association of the District of Columbia. He is also a member of the American Law Institute and a fellow of the American Bar Foundation. For twenty-five years Mr. McBride was a lawyer in the firm of Holland & Knight. For nine years he was managing partner of Holland & Knight during the period of that firm’s expansion and growth into its current configuration as an international law firm. During his tenure as managing partner, Mr. McBride supervised the merger or combination of over eighty law firms and lawyer practices into Holland & Knight. He has served in leadership capacities in numerous legal organizations.
Mr. McBride has been active in numerous statewide and national charitable and civic organizations. Among his current activities, he serves as the Regional Chair of the Alexis de Tocqueville Society Growth Initiative which recognizes those persons who contribute over $10,000 per year to the United Way of America. He is also currently a member of the Board of the Florida Holocaust Museum. He is a former Chair of the Board and Campaign Chair of the United Way of Tampa Bay. He recently joined the Board of Trustees at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg.
Mr. McBride has received the Tree of Life Award from the Jewish National Fund, the Silver Medallion Award from the National Conference of Christians and Jews, the Person of Vision Award from Prevent Blindness of Florida, the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Individual Human Rights and Community Service Award, the Humanitarian and Citizen of the Year Award from the Judeo Christian Clinic of Hillsborough County, the Outstanding Citizen Award from the Hillsborough Association of Retarded Citizens, the Robert Saunders Leadership Award from the NAACP, the Human and Civil Rights Award from the Florida Education Association, the National Pro Bono Award at a ceremony at the Supreme Court of the United States and numerous other awards.
Mr. McBride served as an infantry officer in the United States Marine Corps from 1968 to 1971, which service included a tour in Viet Nam as an Infantry Platoon Commander, Company Commander, and Combined Unit Leader. He received numerous citations and awards including the Bronze Star with combat V. He was the Honor Graduate from Army Ranger School in 1969 and the Leadership Honor Graduate from the Marine Corps Basic School in 1968.
Mr. McBride graduated from the University of Florida with a BA in English in 1967 and from the University of Florida Law School with honors in 1975, where he served as a member of the Florida Law Review. At the University of Florida, Mr. McBride was inducted into the University of Florida Hall of Fame and selected for Who’s Who in Colleges and Universities.
Mr. McBride was the 2002 Democratic nominee for Governor of the State of Florida.