Willie Bogan ‘71
At Dartmouth, Willie majored in Spanish, giving him the opportunity to study in Costa Rica and Spain, which were enriching and broadening experiences. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Summa Cum Laude. He was named a Rhodes Scholar and studied at Oxford University where he received an M.A. degree in Politics and Economics. He earned a J.D. degree from Stanford Law School.
While at Dartmouth, Willie was an All-Ivy, All New-England, All-East and Academic-All America defensive back on the undefeated and nationally ranked 1970 football team, which also won the Lambert Trophy, and he was drafted by the then Baltimore Colts. In addition, he was named a National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame scholar-athlete. In 1989, he was inducted into the Academic All-America Hall of Fame, an honor that recognized former Academic All-Americans for career achievements and community service. In 2013, Willie was honored by the Ivy Football Association (IFA), which then was the seventh time the IFA recognized a distinguished alumnus from each Ivy institution who achieved prominence in his chosen field.
Willie practiced law for 39 years. He started his law career in 1976 as a law firm associate in Los Angeles. Later he helped build a law firm partnership, Steinberg, Miller, Bogan & Goldstein, in Manhattan Beach. He later joined the law department of a large national bank headquartered in Los Angeles, which was subsequently merged with Bank of America (BofA) headquartered in San Francisco. In 1992, BofA relocated Willie, his wife and two young daughters to the San Francisco Bay Area. Willie remained in the Bay Area for the duration of his career, holding senior advisory positions with BofA and four other large public companies – Charles Schwab, Catellus Development Corporation (a real estate development company), Safeway and McKesson Corporation (a diversified healthcare services company ranked in the top tier of the Fortune 500). At McKesson, Willie served as Associate General Counsel and Corporate Secretary.
While at McKesson, Willie was named as one of Savoy Magazine’s 2010 Top 100 Most Influential Blacks in Corporate America.
During his tenure as an in-house attorney, Willie was involved in a variety of substantial commercial and securities transactions and was an adviser to directors and executive management inside and outside the boardroom, especially on securities law and corporate governance matters. Before going in-house, Willie had a varied practice, including real estate transactions, civil litigation and sports law (having worked for the law firm that represented the owner of the Los Angeles Lakers).
Among his professional and community activities, Willie was a guest lecturer on directors’ fiduciary duties at Golden Gate Law School in San Francisco. He is Chairman of the Board of the Student Program for Academic & Athletic Transitioning based in Oakland. He served on the Board of Directors of the San Francisco Bar Association and chaired the Executive Committee of the Association’s Corporate Law Department Section. He served on the Stanford Law School Board of Visitors and on the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles Urban League and the Watts/Willowbrook Boys and Girls Club. He also chaired the Advisory Board of the Northern California Chapter of A Better Chance.
From April 2018 to August 2023, Willie served on the Board of Directors of PolarityTE, Inc., a small public biotechnology company headquartered in Salt Lake City, engaged in the development of regenerative tissue products.
Willie is an avid cyclist.