2000 NIACC Outstanding Alumnus

Bill Swift is retired Vice President and Controller of Ford Motor Company. Ford, which had earnings of $7.2 billion on sales of $163 billion in 1999, is the world’s largest manufacturer of trucks and the second largest manufacturer of cars and trucks.

Bill joined Ford Motor Company in 1965 as an accountant after graduating from Mason City High School (‘61), Mason City Junior College (‘63) and the University of Iowa (‘65). He later earned a master’s degree from Stanford University, where he was a Sloan Fellow.

Bill held a number of positions on Ford’s finance staff until 1981, when he joined car product development as Assistant Controller. In 1984, he became Project Director of Business Strategy for the corporate strategy and analysis staff. Since then, Bill has held various finance positions in car product development, corporate strategy staff, North American automotive finance, transmission and chassis division, truck operations and product development. He was named Controller of Ford Automotive Operations in 1996 and later became Vice President.

Bill has also served as Vice President/Treasurer of Vista Maria, a non-profit treatment agency serving troubled young girls and their families in southeastern Michigan.