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William Genge
Year of induction: 2000
Bio:
There is an elegance that comes with a leader who has a strong work ethic and an innate people sense. Bill Genge is cast from that classic mold. He arrived at Ketchum, then known as KM&G, in 1953. He became president in 1970 and then CEO, leading the agency through its phenomenal growth years from a regional to a multinational company before retiring as chairman and chief executive officer of Ketchum Communications. At his retirement, the agency was billing over $1 billion a year.
Living through dramatic phases of history has been a way of life for Bill Genge. One of his most personal memories of real-life drama began as a very young U.S. Army Air Force pilot shot down in Holland by Nazis during World War II.
On a mission behind enemy lines on May 24, 1944, 2nd Lt. Genge’s P-47D Thunderbolt was hit by ground fire about 05 miles northwest of Amsterdam. He bailed out at very low altitude, ending up in a canal. With about 75 Wehrmacht soldiers running towards him, he ran into the woods. The Germans and their dogs found him in about 15 minutes.
Genge was placed in solitary confinement outside Amsterdam and later was moved east before being liberated by Gen. George Patton and his troops.
The experience of being in real battles under real fire at a very early age surely fitted Bill Genge for a life in the frontline of the aggressive advertising profession. He began his communications career at Gulf as a copywriter and liaison man with Gulf’s agency, Young & Rubicam.
Three years later, on June 15, 1953, Bill Genge joined KM&G as an account executive and stayed. Moving steadily through the ranks, his account assignments included Westinghouse, Calgon, H.J. Heinz and Gulf Oil, the corporation where he began his career.
Even in retirement, Bill Genge’s community service includes a long list of cultural, civic, and public service organizations. Bill is a trustee of the University of Pittsburgh. He is a member of the Katz Graduate School of Business Administration board of visitors and chairs the University Press board of visitors. He serves as a trustee of Chatham College, Linden Hall School for Girls and is a director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Society, the Greater Pittsburgh Literary Council, the Executive Service Corps, the Pittsburgh Opera Theatre and Carnegie Music Hall. His avocational interests include the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony, newspaper journalism, writing, high handicap golf and sailing little boats. How does he find the time you might ask? Congratulations Bill, on being elected into the Pittsburgh Advertising Hall of Fame.
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