Bill's Biography

As Arkansas' 14th Lieutenant Governor, Bill Halter is focused on education and jobs. He believes Arkansas must develop a skilled work force capable of meeting the challenges of a 21st century economy.

Arkansas voters elected Bill Halter to a four-year term as Lieutenant Governor on November 7, 2006. He brings extensive experience in both the public and private sectors to his state office. Bill has served as an economic adviser to the President of the United States and to the U.S. Senate, managed the Social Security Administration, advised Fortune 500 companies, and served on the Boards of Directors of information technology and life sciences companies.

In the private sector, Bill Halter advised corporate executives from far-reaching industries while working as a management consultant with McKinsey and Company. He also co-wrote a study on the management practices of successful companies. Bill continues to serve on the Board of Directors of Threshold Pharmaceuticals, a biotechnology firm dedicated to developing cancer-fighting drugs.

The Lieutenant Governor's lifelong advocacy of educational opportunity defines his service as Trustee Emeritus of Stanford University, his alma mater. He also serves on Stanford's Humanities and Sciences Council as well as on the Advisory Council for Stanford University Libraries. Bill is a member of the National Advisory Board of Friends for Youth, which matches at-risk youngsters with adult mentors.

President Bill Clinton appointed (and the U.S. Senate unanimously confirmed) Bill Halter as Deputy Commissioner of Social Security in 1999. As the agency's Chief Operating Officer, he was responsible for the delivery of more than $500 billion in benefits to 48 million-plus Americans, including nearly 540,000 Arkansans. Later, Bill served as Acting Commissioner of Social Security, managing 65,000 employees in 1,500 offices.

Bill first joined the Clinton administration in 1993, working to help trim bureaucratic waste with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in the Executive Office of the President. During his six years at OMB, the government's $290 billion budget deficit transformed to a $125 billion surplus. The United States enjoyed its first balanced budget in 40 years.

Bill served the U.S. Congress, too, as an economist for the Joint Economic Committee and as Chief Economist for the Senate Finance Committee.

The Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas is a Rhodes Scholar, with a Master of Philosophy degree from Oxford University in England in 1986. He studied economics and politics as a National Merit Scholar and Harry S. Truman Scholar at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, where he earned an A.B. degree with honors and distinction and graduated as a member of Phi Beta Kappa in 1983.

Raised in North Little Rock, Bill was valedictorian of the Little Rock Catholic High School graduating class of 1979. He is a fourth-generation Arkansan. His father ran a small business; his mother was a nurse.

Bill and his wife, Shanti, have a beautiful 1-year-old daughter, Lauren Renée Halter. The Halters are members of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in North Little Rock.