Prof. William English Appointed Eugene F. Williams, Jr. Professor of the Practice

William B. English, a member of Yale SOM’s faculty since 2016, has been named the Eugene F. Williams, Jr. Professor of the Practice, effective July 1, 2023.

English, an expert on monetary policy and banking, joined Yale after serving in a variety of roles at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, including director of the Division of Monetary Affairs and secretary to the Federal Open Market Committee. He was appointed professor in the practice of finance in 2018.

English teaches courses on monetary policy, central banking, and systemic risk, including the Systemic-Risk Colloquium, a required course for students in the Master’s Degree in Systemic Risk program.

Junko Oguri ’20, a former staff member at the Bank of Japan and a graduate of the Systemic Risk program, is now a PhD candidate at Northwestern Kellogg School of Management. “My master’s program experience would have been significantly different without meeting Professor English,” she said. “His approachability, care, and deep insights from the Federal Reserve Board have been invaluable—even after graduation, his unwavering support led me to pursue a PhD in finance. I’m thrilled about this appointment and greatly appreciate his ongoing guidance.”

English joins A.J. Wasserstein, who was appointed the Eugene F. Williams, Jr. Lecturer in the Practice of Management in 2017. Wasserstein, an entrepreneur and investor, is an expert on search funds, entrepreneurship, programmatic acquisitions, and small businesses.

“Professor Wasserstein’s courses literally changed my life,” said Dwayne Luquetta ’20, a graduate of the MBA program who is now CEO of Benjamin Moore Kelowna in British Columbia, Canada. “A.J. regularly tells his classes ‘You can do this!’ and I found myself as the CEO of a small business less than two years after my graduation from SOM because of the connections and learning I soaked up from A.J. As a result, I was able to get a unique opportunity to take on responsibility that you would almost certainly not get this early in your career. I’m humbled to consider him a mentor today.”

The Eugene F. Williams, Jr. Visiting Professorship was established in 1993 by Eugene F. Williams, Jr., a 1945 graduate of Yale College and the former CEO and chairman of St. Louis Union Trust Co. A World War II veteran of the U.S. Army Air Corps, Williams served on boards for a variety of companies and St. Louis-area institutions. He played a role in the founding of Washington University’s John M. Olin School of Business, named for his wife Evelyn’s stepfather.

“It is a distinct honor and privilege for us to have two esteemed members of our faculty, Bill English and A.J. Wasserstein, as the holders of the Eugene F. Williams, Jr. Visiting Professorship,” said Joel Getz, deputy dean for alumni, development, and special initiatives. “This year, as we commemorate the 30th anniversary of the creation of the fund at SOM, it is especially wonderful to see how Mr. Williams’ prescient generosity continues to be amplified through exceptional teaching and mentoring of our students.”