N.C. A&T Alumni Times

Photo Credit: EvonOliver Photography

Gibsonville Mayor Leonard Williams ’61 was recently recognized by the State of North Carolina with the Order of the Long Leaf Pine. According to the North Carolina Governor’s Office, the Order of the Long Leaf Pine is the highest honor of recognition. It is granted to employees with 30 or more years of employment with the State of North Carolina. The award is also granted for exemplary community services that demonstrates a significant impact in improving a local community. As a result, the service of a nominee has strengthened the state of North Carolina.

Williams started his public servant career in 1993 when he first ran for the Town of Gibsonville’s alderman position and then mayor in 2001. He prides himself on being a community organizer that takes the initiative to connect with people and understand their needs. In his professional background, he worked for the Internal Revenue Service as an agent and manager for 35 years. He retired from the IRS in December 1996.

As the mayor of Gibsonville, Williams has made significant impacts in the town with the launch of the new bus system, Link Transit that now connects to the town and allows citizens to travel throughout Alamance County and offers a transfer to Raleigh. In addition, he was monumental in the groundbreaking for the new community center that is a $2.1 million, 15,000 square-foot multi-purpose facility that is set to be completed in fall 2017.

Williams credits three of his elementary school teachers for influencing him to attend North Carolina A&T State University. He explains when he was six years old growing up in Enfield, North Carolina, his mother passed away leaving him and his 12 siblings alone with their father. He had given up hope and stopped attending school out of fear that his father would pass away too. He said he would never forget the day that three of his teachers walked three miles to his house to encourage him to come back to school. The magnitude of love he felt on that day caused him to never miss a day of school. Two of those teachers were alumnae from N.C. A&T and they convinced him that the college was a great place for him to attend and excel as an African American man. He received his bachelor’s degree in accounting and he went on to obtain his master’s degree in business administration from Central Michigan University.

Williams currently serves on the PART Board as vice chair, the Hospice Board of Alamance County, Burlington Graham Transportation Advisory Committee, the Martin Luther King Jr. Coalition of Alamance County and Say Yes Greensboro.