Bill Crawford

Over the last fifty-five years, Canton, MS, native Bill Crawford has been a daily newspaper reporter, a crusading small-town weekly editor, a statewide political campaign operative, a successful banker, a reform-minded state legislator, an IHL Board leader, an unsuccessful congressional candidate, a community development nonprofit founder and president, a state economic developer, a mentor of developing leaders, the local community leader most responsible for keeping Meridian's Naval Air Station open, and a statewide syndicated political columnist. Along the way he became a man of deep and steadfast faith, and that faith has informed and guided his work. He holds a BS in math from Millsaps College and an MS in Education from Mississippi State University. He retired in 2021 and he and his wife Lynn moved to Jackson, MS, after 40 years in Meridian, MS.