Roy Williams (born 1944) is the former

Chief Scout Executive The Chief Scout Executive is the top professional of the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America. In most similar non-profit organizations, this is equivalent to the position of CEO, national executive director or secretary general. Roger ...

of the

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded i ...

. He is the tenth person to hold that position, serving between 2000–2007.

Scouting career

Selected in the spring of 2000 as Chief Scout Executive, Roy Williams began his career with the Boy Scouts of America as a

district executive The Boy Scouts of America is an organization run by volunteers, however the day-to-day administration is performed by a staff of professional (or career) Scouters. The organization has professional staffing at every level—district, council, reg ...

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

. Following that, Williams served as district executive in

Abilene, Texas Abilene ( ) is a city in Taylor and Jones Counties in Texas, United States. Its population was 125,182 at the 2020 census, making it the 27th-most populous city in the state of Texas. It is the principal city of the Abilene metropolitan statis ...

, finance director in

Little Rock, Arkansas (The Little Rock, The "Little Rock") , government_type = council-manager government, Council-manager , leader_title = List of mayors of Little Rock, Arkansas, Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_ ...

, Scout Executive for the Jayhawk Area Council in

Topeka, Kansas Topeka ( ; Kansa language, Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the Capital (political), capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the County seat, seat of Shawnee County, Kansas, Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the ...

, and later the Narragansett Council in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

. He has also served as director of the Boy Scout Division, BSA National Council and most recently, Western region director. Williams' term as Chief Scout Executive was a very challenging time for the Boy Scouts of America. Shortly after Williams assumed the duties of Chief Scout Executive in 2000, the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

announced its ruling in the ''

Boy Scouts of America v. Dale ''Boy Scouts of America et al. v. Dale'', 530 U.S. 640 (2000), was a landmark decision of the US Supreme Court, decided on June 28, 2000, that held that the constitutional right to freedom of association allowed the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) to ...

'' case, where the right of the Boy Scouts to exclude known and avowed homosexuals from its membership was upheld. Although initially seen as a major win for the BSA, this decision led to funding issues with several

United Way United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit fundraising affiliates. United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public, prior to 2016. United Way organizations raise funds ...

chapters, government entities and more limited recruiting access to schools. Membership in the BSA's traditional programs (Boy Scouting, Cub Scouting and Venturing) steadily declined during Williams' tenure. Several Councils, most notably the councils in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

and

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

were embroiled in charges of false membership claims. Williams announced his retirement on February 7, 2007, which was effective September 1, 2007. His successor, Robert J. Mazzuca, was named on May 22, 2007. Williams graduated in 1971 from the

University of Texas at Arlington The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA or UT Arlington) is a public research university in Arlington, Texas. The university was founded in 1895 and was in the Texas A&M University System for several decades until joining the University of Te ...

with a bachelor's degree in business administration. He is a veteran of the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

. Williams was a Scout while a youth in Dallas, Texas.

Honors and awards

Williams is a Chieftain in the

Tribe of Mic-O-Say The Tribe of Mic-O-Say is an honor society used by two local councils of the Boy Scouts of America, the Heart of America Council at the H. Roe Bartle Scout Reservation and, the council in which Mic-O-Say was founded in, the Pony Express Counci ...

and a

Vigil Honor It is important to distinguish between ''awards,'' ''honors,'' and ''membership levels'' in the Order of the Arrow – the honor camping society of the Boy Scouts of America. The Founder's Award, the Red Arrow Award, and the Distinguished Serv ...

member of the

Order of the Arrow The Order of the Arrow (OA) is the honor society of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), composed of Scouts and Scouters who best exemplify the Scout Oath and Law in their daily lives as elected by their peers. The society was created by E. Urner G ...

. He is a recipient of the Order's Distinguished Service Award ''The Nonprofit Times'', a publication covering the field of nonprofit management, named Williams as one of the nation's top 50 outstanding leaders of nonprofit organizations for 2005.

Footnotes

# (September 2005)
Business publication names BSA Chief Scout Executive Roy Williams one of 50 top leaders of nonprofit organizations
''Scouting Magazine''.

External links

Roy Williams' Mic-O-Say biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Roy 1944 births Living people University of Texas at Arlington alumni Chief Scout Executives

Scouting career

Honors and awards

Footnotes

See also

External links