| A Brief History |
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William Samuel Loiry was born on September 25, 1958 in Washington, DC. He is the son of the late Dr. David Loiry and the late Carol Loiry. His ancestry is French, German, and English. Growing up in the tumultuous 1960s and 70s, William saw southern race relations first-hand: as a young boy he was in the crowd with his mother as Governor George Wallace stood in the door of the University of Alabama to prevent racial integration. As a student at Austin High School in Decatur, Alabama, and Riverview High School and Sarasota High School in Sarasota, Florida, William excelled in science, speech, debate, writing, and music. He won more than two dozen awards in various science competitions. He graduated high school as a member of the Bicentennial Class of 1976 and gave a highly-acclaimed graduation address. During college, William served as a U.S. Senate intern for Senator Richard Stone. At Florida State University, he was the first student lobbyist, helping to keep tuition costs down for students throughout Florida. At the University of Florida, he was a member of the student body president's cabinet and helped end gender pay inequities and the sexual harassment of female students. At 22, Loiry was a major party candidate for the Florida House of Representatives and received the endorsements of the Governor of Florida and the Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives. Throughout the 1980s, Loiry was President of Loiry Publishing House, a family-owned book publishing company. The firm published more than thirty nonfiction books, in areas ranging from effective parenting to personal growth and wellness. The firm's authors appeared on The Today Show and other major media. In 1989, Loiry was President of one of the few U.S.-Soviet sister city organizations and hosted the Mayor of Krasnodar, Russia and his delegation on an historic visit to the United States. Inspired that trade and investment between the U.S. and the Soviet Union could help prevent a thermonuclear conflict between the two superpowers, Loiry moved to Washington in 1989 and published the first U.S.-Soviet business guide in 1990. Throughout the next four years, as President of Global Business, Loiry traveled extensively throughout the former Soviet Union, often becoming the first American to visit cities and towns in Russia, Ukraine, and other former Soviet republics. He pioneered U.S.-Russian business training programs, hosting more than 500 Russian oil and bank executives on business tours of the U.S. between 1990 and 1993. William Loiry founded Equity International in 1995. After publishing the first U.S.-East European business guide, Loiry played a pivotal role in the creation and improvement of capital markets and other financial institutions in Central/Eastern Europe. In January of 1996, Loiry organized the first conference on the reconstruction of post-war Bosnia. Since then, he has continued to bring together thousands of government officials, business leaeders, and humanitarian experts to find solutions for the reconstruction and development of distressed areas of the world, including post-war Kosovo and other areas of the Balkans; Central America following Hurricane Mitch; Turkey following deadly earthquakes; Venezuela following massive flooding; Afghanistan beginning in 2002; and Iraq beginning in 2003. Loiry traveled extensively throughout the Balkans in the immediate aftermath of conflict. In August of 1999, following the NATO action, Loiry landed in Pristina on a U.N. food flight and toured Kosovo. In October of 2000, Loiry was a guest of the Government of Macedonia and discussed reconstruction and development with heads of state from throughout Southeastern Europe. Loiry then became the first American business leader to meet the new President of Yugoslavia, Vojislav Kostunica, in Belgrade. In 1998, following the bombings of American embassies in Africa, Loiry organized the first conference on the threat of Osama bin Laden to American companies overseas. In 1999, he organized a major Washington conference on cyberterrorism, keynoted by presidential adviser Richard Clarke. Since 2002, he has brought together thousands of government and military officials, business leaders, and homeland security experts to identify funding and find solutions in such critical areas as biodefense, transportation security, mass transit security, critical infrastructure protection, emergency communications, community preparedness, and global security. At the 2004 Homeland and Global Security Summit, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge was the keynote speaker. Following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, William Loiry organized four major conferences on the reconstruction of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. Traveling often to the region, he toured the destruction by helicopter with U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu, introduced New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco as speakers, and met with numerous federal officials. In March of 2008, Loiry and his firm were a major organizing partner for the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference (WIREC), an historic State Department-hosted event which brought together almost 9,000 Delegates from 119 countries. President George W. Bush was the keynote speaker. William Loiry has played a key role in high-level gatherings around the world. He is an inaugural and current member of the Clinton Global Initiative, which has brought together more than 100 current and former heads of state, hundreds of leading global CEOs, and major philanthropists to tackle the world's most urgent problems. In 2003, Loiry was invited by the Government of Jordan to be a Delegate to the World Economic Forum's Extraordinary Meeting on the Dead Sea, focusing on Middle East peace and Iraq reconstruction. In 2005, Loiry organized the first U.S.-Russia Homeland Security Trade Mission, Congressionally-led and hosted by the Russian Parliament. That same year, Loiry was a Delegate to the International Summit on Democracy, Terrorism and Security, held in Madrid and hosted by the distinguished Club of Madrid. Loiry has traveled to 48 U.S. states and 50 countries. He is the author of nine books and numerous articles and special sections in national newspapers and magazines. He has spoken at more than 100 major national and international events. In his spare time, William Loiry helps feed the homeless. |
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