William Gorham
William "Bill" Gorham is an American economist and founding president of the Urban Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based social and economic policy think tank.Career
Gorham was a researcher at the RAND Corporation from 1953 to 1962. He then served as Assistant Secretary of Defense from 1962 to 1965, and then Assistant Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare from 1965 to 1968. He was among a group of economists hand-selected by President Lyndon B. Johnson to launch a new, independent research organization to evaluate the Great Society social programs, a mandate that led to the formation of the nonprofit, nonpartisan Urban Institute. Gorham served as Urban Institute president from its founding in 1968 until his retirement in 2000.Personal life
Gorham graduated from Stanford University in 1952. He has five daughters including Sarah Gorham, a writer and publisher of Sarabande Books, Nancy Haiman a senior vice president and publisher at Kaufman Hall, Kim Umbarger a retired special education teacher, , a nature writer, and Becky Gorham, deceased. His first marriage to Kathryn Aring Gorham lasted twenty years. His second marriage is to Gail Gorham.
