William States Lee III, popularly known as Bill Lee (1929 – July 10, 1996) was an American business executive at Duke Power Company, known as the cofounder of the

Institute of Nuclear Power Operations The Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO), headquartered in Atlanta, GA, is an organization established in 1979 by the U.S. nuclear power industry in response to recommendations by the Kemeny Commission Report, following the investigation ...

and initiator of the World Association of Nuclear Operators. In 1988 he was the recipient of the Henry Laurence Gantt Medal. Lee was born in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

in 1929. He attended Woodberry Forest School and was a

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...

and

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...

graduate of

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

Civil Engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewage ...

. After serving in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

SeaBees United States Naval Construction Battalions, better known as the Navy Seabees, form the U.S. Naval Construction Force (NCF). The Seabee nickname is a heterograph of the initial letters "CB" from the words "Construction Battalion". Depending upon ...

, Lee joined

Duke Power Duke Energy Corporation is an American electric power and natural gas holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. Overview Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Duke Energy owns 58,200 megawatts of base-load and peak generation in ...

's engineering department in 1955 as a junior engineer. He was promoted to engineering vice president in 1965, engineering and construction senior vice president in 1971, and executive vice president in 1976. He became president and chief operating officer of Duke Power Company in 1978 and chairman and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

in 1982. Lee helped to form the

after the

Three Mile Island accident The Three Mile Island accident was a partial meltdown of the Three Mile Island, Unit 2 (TMI-2) reactor in Pennsylvania, United States. It began at 4 a.m. on March 28, 1979. It is the most significant accident in U.S. commercial nuclea ...

. He was also an initiator of the World Association of Nuclear Operators, in the wake of the

Chernobyl disaster The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the No. 4 reactor in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, near the city of Pripyat in the north of the Ukrainian SSR in the Soviet Union. It is one of only two nuc ...

, becoming its first president. In 1989, he was named "CEO of the decade" by Financial World magazine. Lee retired from Duke Power in 1994. He died of cardiac arrest in New York City July 10, 1996. A popular man and supporter of education, the College of Engineering at the

University of North Carolina at Charlotte The University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC Charlotte or simply Charlotte) is a public research university in Charlotte, North Carolina. UNC Charlotte offers 24 doctoral, 66 master's, and 79 bachelor's degree programs through nine colle ...

was named in his honor in 1994, as was the "

Bill Lee Freeway Interstate 77 (I-77) is a part of the Interstate Highway System that runs from Columbia, South Carolina, to Cleveland, Ohio. In North Carolina, I-77 enters the state at Charlotte, from South Carolina. Crossing the Piedmont, it connects wi ...

", a stretch of Interstate Highway 77 north from Charlotte, and Duke Energy's

William States Lee III Nuclear Generating Station The William States Lee III Nuclear Station was a planned two-unit nuclear power plant in Cherokee County, South Carolina. Duke Energy filed the Combined Construction and Operating License (COL) application for the plant on December 13, 2007 t ...

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

. Lee was awarded the North Carolina Award for Public Service in 1988.

References

1929 births 1996 deaths American chief executives of energy companies Duke Energy Princeton University alumni American chief operating officers 20th-century American businesspeople Woodberry Forest School alumni Henry Laurence Gantt Medal recipients 20th-century American engineers {{US-CEO-stub