William A. (Billy) Williamson, Jr., in his teen years, had visions of being a successful cattle farmer. After buying a pair of calves for a class project, nurturing them for a year, and selling them for less than he paid for them, he figured that maybe his skills lay in another direction. Instead of going to Auburn as he had planned, he enrolled in the business school at The University of Alabama and graduated with a degree in management.
Upon returning to his hometown of Montgomery in 1958, where he still lives when not in the mountains of Highlands, N.C., he embarked on his business career in the warehouse of Durr Drug Company. The company, founded as a grocery store in 1896, was known as Gay, Hardy, and Durr. In 1905 the company was incorporated as Durr Drug Company, a distributor of pharmaceuticals, hospital equipment, and supplies as well as health and beauty aids.
As he learned the business, Williamson worked in several capacities: data processing manager, company secretary, and treasurer, and vice president of operations until he was elected president and CEO in 1974 and chairman and CEO in 1981. Under his leadership, the company became public and sales grew from approximately $40 million to more than $1 billion in 1992, when it was acquired by Bergen Brunswick. When asked what he thought made the company unique, he replied, “A strong employee work ethic, high company morale, and a dedication to quality customer service.”
Prior to the sale of the company, the decision had been made to endow a chair of business ethics at The University of Alabama Culverhouse College of Commerce. Led by Williamson and Eddie Adair, company president, contributions from the company’s management team, its board of directors, and friends of the company made the chair a reality.
After the company was sold, Williamson resigned and pursued other business interests, working with Cordova Ventures (a venture capital firm), buying a publishing company that focused on wing shooting and fly fishing books, and along with others, purchasing a restaurant franchise. In 2002, Williamson and his son formed Whetstone Capital, a private investment company managed by his son.
Currently, Williamson is on the board of directors of Genesco, Inc., a specialty retailing company on the New York Stock Exchange. He is a past chairman and member of the board of directors of Jackson Hospital and is a member of the national board of Kairos Prison Ministries, a member of the Montgomery YMCA Metro Board, and the Board of Visitors of the University of Alabama Culverhouse College of Commerce. He is a member of the Chief Executive Organization.
Past board memberships include AmSouth Bankcorporation, Dunn Investment Company, co-chair of the River Region Tocqueville Society, Central Alabama Community Foundation, and president of the National Wholesale Drug Association.
Community Memberships have included the Montgomery Lion’s Club, the Men of Montgomery, and the Steering Committee of the Montgomery Chapter of Young Business Leaders. He was a member of Leadership Alabama, class of 1992-93, and in 1993 he received the Golden Hawk Award from Huntingdon College’s School of Business.
Active in church work, he is a former senior warden and Cursillo lay rector. He is currently a member of Christ Church XP, an Anglican Parish.
He enjoys outdoor activities including golf, fly fishing, bird hunting, clay, and skeet shooting, and training his own retrievers. He and his wife Pat have two children, Virginia Paige and William A. III, better known as Buster, and three grandchildren.
