Your speaker, Historian Bill George
Bill George has enjoyed a 42-year career as a journalist, public relations and marketing executive and filmmaker. Bill learned his trade at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. He landed his first job at WHO-TV Des Moines Iowa in 1977 as a photographer/news reporter. In 1979 he was a bureau chief and then assignment editor at WMT-TV Cedar Rapids, where he produced a series of historical reports on Iowa in the Civil War.
He also covered the return of the American hostages from Iran to West Point and Washington D.C. He moved to Sacramento in 1982 to work at KCRA-TV as assignment editor and producer of special projects, managing all technical and editorial coverage of four Super Bowls, the Reagan-Gorbachev Summit, national Republican and Democratic political conventions, and the Pope’s trip to California, and the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. Also at KCRA, he wrote and produced a 90-minute documentary on the Vietnam War live, via satellite, from Washington, D.C. The program raised money needed to complete the Vietnam Memorial in California’s Capitol Park.
His stories have appeared on CNN, ESPN, NBC and numerous syndicated television shows. He transitioned to public relations and marketing and served as Communications Director for the California Manufacturers Association, and then was appointed by Governor Pete Wilson as Assistant Secretary for Marketing and Communications for the California Trade and Commerce Agency. In 1995 Bill George joined Ford Motor Company, where he served in a number of positions including Manager of Broadcast News and Global Marketing Communications Manager.
As a Historian Bill George
Bill George founded Nimbus Films in 2011 and produced “The Hidden Wonder of the World” about the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad from Sacramento to Donner Summit, which aired on KVIE, PBS for Sacramento in 2012. He wrote the book Rails, Tales and Trails as a companion guide to the film. In 2014 he produced the documentary film, “Newcastle, Gem of the Foothills.”
In 2015, he produced “Chinese Builders of Gold Mountain” about the Chinese experience in California from 1849-1875. In 2016 he was invited to China by Central China Television (CCTV) to discuss his films. He followed that up with “Beyond a Miracle,” about the rise of California agriculture, and in 2018 he produced “The Short, Sweet History of California Strawberries” which also aired on PBS. In 2023 he produced the documentary film, “Rancho Cordova, from the Gold Rush to the Space Race,” which also aired on PBS.
In 2023, Rowman & Littlefield published Bill’s book, Victory in the Pool, about the swimmers from a Sacramento swim club who won twenty Olympic Gold medals. He has won numerous awards, including “PR Week’s” award for best use of the Internet, and the “Car of the Year” award for the marketing launch of the Ford Focus. He has won the Conference of California Historical Societies Award of Merit for his documentary films, the American Society of Civil Engineers top award for media presentations, and the Sacramento County Historical Society Award of Excellence.
As a highly respected historian Bill George has made hundreds of presentations about California’s Back Lawn to civic, educational, travel and cultural groups. To have him meet with your group, click here or call him at 916-899-9871
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