Bill Wade

A second-generation NPS careerist, Bill was reared in Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado, where his father spent nearly his entire career as Chief Park Ranger. He earned a bachelor's degree in business administration and biological sciences from Fort Lewis College, Durango, CO, in 1964.

Following service in the U.S. Army, as an officer in the Corps of Engineers (including service in Viet Nam), he began his NPS career in 1967, as a park ranger in Mount Rainier NP, WA. Subsequent assignments took him to Yosemite NP, CA as a sub-district ranger; National Capital Parks, Central in Washington DC as a unit manager; and training specialist at the NPS Albright Training Center in Grand Canyon NP, AZ. In 1976-77, he spent one year in New Zealand on a Fulbright Scholarship assignment assisting with the development of a park ranger-training program at Lincoln College. He then served as Assistant Chief Ranger in Great Smoky Mountains NP, TN and NC. In 1981, he took another one-year overseas assignment in Trinidad and Tobago with the Organization of American States as a consultant to the government regarding National Parks and other protected areas. He returned to the NPS as Assistant Superintendent of Delaware Water Gap NRA, PA and NJ, followed by an assignment as Superintendent of the NPS Mather Training Center in Harpers Ferry, WV. He was assigned to the position of Superintendent, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia, in 1988 and retired from that position in July, 1997, after 34 years of Federal service.

Bill now serves as the Founding Director of the Executive Council of the 750-member Coalition of National Park Service Retirees. He resides in Tucson, Arizona; however at the present time is on a two-year assignment to establish Jebel Hafit National Park in Abu Dhabi.

Bill has received the following awards:

- the NPS Director's Award for Superintendent of the Year in 1992, in recognition of outstanding contributions in natural resources stewardship.

- the National Parks and Conservation Association's Stephen Tyng Mather Award in 1992 for contribution to resource preservation at the risk of career.

- the Department of the Interior Meritorious Service Award in 1992 for career-long contributions to the National Park Service.

- the NPS Mid-Atlantic Region’s Superintendent of the Year Award in 1993

- the Department of the Interior Distinguished Service Award in 2000 for career-long contributions to the National Park Service and the Department of the Interior.