HONOREE PROFILE: WILLIAM HAWTHRONE

I was at an event at the W Hotel a few months ago and I had the pleasure of meeting Bill Hawthrone. The one thing I recalled from our conversation was that I did most of the talking and Bill did a lot of listening. One of my former VPs use to say you have one mouth and 2 ears, so listen twice as much as you speak. Mr. Hawthrone has been a success because he listens. It's easy to understand why BRAG is honoring him this year.
Here is what we know about Bill Hawthrone.

Mr. Hawthorne joined Macy's, Inc. (then Federated Department Stores) in 1990. He currently serves in the capacity of Corporate Vice President, Diversity Strategies and Legal Affairs and is a member of the Corporate Management Team. Mr. Hawthorne has corporate wide responsibility for overseeing diversity strategies and handles substantive legal matters as assigned by the General Counsel.

Macy’s, Inc., with corporate offices in Cincinnati and New York, stands as the nation’s largest department store retailer, with fiscal 2007 sales at $27 billion. Macy’s, Inc. operates 863 department stores in 49 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico. The company also operates Bloomingdale’s, Macy's.com, Bloomingdale's.com and Bloomingdale’s by Mail. Macy’s, Inc. is dedicated to building the company one customer at a time by molding brands around the needs, wants and aspirations of its diverse customer base.

Prior to his current role, Mr. Hawthorne served in the Law Department of Macy’s, Inc. in the roles of Divisional Vice President and National Practice Leader. His responsibilities included the oversight of most of the Company's legal matters arising in the Midwest and Southeast. In addition, he had national responsibility for coordinating dispute resolution and litigation strategies for the Company.

Mr. Hawthorne is a former attorney for the City of Atlanta Solicitor’s Office and served as a trial attorney for the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office. As a prosecutor, he was the lead trial attorney in several high profile cases including the successful prosecution of a death penalty case.
Mr. Hawthorne also has significant teaching experience. He served for many years as an instructor for the National Institute of Trial Advocacy (NITA) at Emory University School of Law and as an adjunct professor of Business Law in the MBA program at the Atlanta University. He has served numerous times as a panelist and speaker on topics of litigation management, early case assessment, dispute resolution, and Diversity Strategies in corporate and legal arenas.
Mr. Hawthorne has served on philanthropic and industry boards, served as Chair of the Labor and Employment Section of the American Corporate Counsel Association (ACCA). He is a current Board Member and Committee Chair of the Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA).

Mr. Hawthorne is an Honors Graduate of Morehouse College and earned a Doctor of Law degree from the Emory University School of Law. Mr. Hawthorne resides in Atlanta with his wife, D'anna, and their children.