Home > William H. Gates, Sr.

Gates was born in Bremerton, Washington, and enlisted in the U.S. Army after graduation from high school. He served in the army and fought in World War II. In November of 1946 he was honorably discharged from the army, and he enrolled in the University of Washington (UW) under the G.I. Bill, where he earned a Bachelor's degree in 1949 and a law degree in 1950. He married Mary Maxwell Gates , whom he met at UW, and who died in 1994. With her he had three children, Kristi , Bill, and Libby . In 1996 Gates married Mimi Gardner Gates , who is director of the Seattle Art MuseumThe Seattle Art Museum (commonly known as "SAM") is an art museum located in downtown Seattle, Washington USA. Admission is free on the first Thursday of each month. The Seattle Art Museum opened on June 23, 1933 in an Art Deco building in Volunteer Park,. He practiced law until 1998, primarily with the law firm now known as Preston Gates & Ellis (PGE), which he co-founded as Shidler & King in 1964.

In 1998, Gates retired from PGE. He currently serves on the Board of Regents for the University of Washington, and runs the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Gates is coauthor, with Chuck CollinsChuck Collins (b. 1960) is an author and is the cofounder and associate director of United for a Fair Economy in Boston, Massachusetts. He is an expert on U. economic inequality and has pioneered efforts bringing together investors and business leaders to, of the book "Wealth and Our Commonwealth: Why America Should Tax Accumulated Fortunes", a defense of estate taxation.

• Received the Boy Scouts of AmericaThe Boy Scouts of America BSA is an organization for boys between the ages of 7 and 14, and for both young men and women between the ages of 14 and 21, based in the United States of America, with some presence in other countries. BSA is part of the global Eagle Award, January 13, 1941
• University of Washington Law School Distinguished Alumnus, 1991
• Recipient of the American Judicature Society Herbert Harley Award, 1992
• Served on the Board for Judicial Administration, WashingtonWashington is a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. It should not be confused with Washington, DC, the nation's capital. To avoid confusion, the state is often called Washington state . Although the state capital is Olympia, the largest c State Supreme Court, 1993-1995
• President of the Washington State Bar Association, 1986-1987
• Inducted into the American Academy of Arts and SciencesThe American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an organization dedicated to scholarship and the advancement of learning, particularly in areas of political science. It serves as a nationwide honor society for the United States, James Bowdoin, John Adams, an, 2003
• Has a building William H. Gates Hall at the University of Washington Law School named for him, 2003