2007 Distinguished Alumnus Bill Reynolds B.A. Management, 1969
After the war, Mr. Reynolds flew B-47s and then B-52s for Strategic Air Command (SAC), carrying H-bombs during the cold war years, and was airborne in his fully loaded B-52 during the Cuban Missile Crisis. When he retired as Lt. Col. U.S. Air Force, Mr. Reynolds returned to college at Sonoma State. After graduation, he earned an M.B.A. from Sacramento State. In 1970 he became an instructor in the Department of Management, and by the time he retired in 1990 he had served as a lecturer, assistant professor, department chair and associate dean. During his tenure as chair, the Department changed its name from Management to Business Administration and became part of the new School of Business and Economics. Since his retirement, he has given more than 17 years of volunteer service to assist - among other things - in the maintenance of student records that provided essential documentation for the School's accreditation in April 2007. Reynolds has also dedicated over 40 years to the SSU Athletic Association and was inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame in 2001.
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Mr. Reynolds was the pilot and plane commander of the B-29 that was the first to photograph the damage to Hiroshima following the Enola Gay bombing in 1945. He left Purdue University in 1940 to fly airplanes, and flew photo reconnaissance in B-17s and B-24s over North Africa, India and China, and B-29s out of Guam and Saipan over Japan.