William Birdthistle

William A. Birdthistle
Born	William Anthony Birdthistle (1973-10-20) October 20, 1973 (age 51) Cork City, County Cork, Ireland
Occupation(s)	Director, Division of Investment Management, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Academic background
Education	Duke University, BA, 1995 Harvard Law School, JD, 1999 University of Chicago, MA, History, 2021
Academic work
Discipline	Corporate Law, Securities Regulation
Institutions	Securities and Exchange Commission Chicago-Kent College of Law Ropes & Gray

William A. Birdthistle (born October 20, 1973) is a law professor at the University of Chicago Law School.[1] He served as the Director of the Division of Investment Management at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from 2021-2024.[2]

Early life and education

Birdthistle was born in Cork, Ireland, and is a citizen of both the Republic of Ireland and the United States. He spent eight years living in Brega, Libya, and nine years in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, before coming to the United States in 1991 for his undergraduate studies.[3]

He attended Duke University for his Bachelor of Arts degrees in English and psychology, where he graduated summa cum laude in 1995. He then enrolled at Harvard Law School for his Juris Doctor and served as managing editor of the Harvard Law Review, graduating in 1999.

In 2019, he matriculated at the University of Chicago, where he received an MA in history in 2021 and is currently working on a PhD in history.[4]

Career

Birdthistle spent a year as Judicial Clerk to the Honorable Diarmuid O'Scannlain.[4] He was then an attorney at the Boston law firm of Ropes & Gray from 2001 to 2006. He joined the faculty at Chicago-Kent College of Law in 2006, and received tenure in 2011,[4] when he also won Chicago-Kent's Excellence in Teaching Award.[4]

From 2016 through 2020, Birdthistle served as a visiting professor of law and lecturer in law at the University of Chicago Law School, where he won the Graduating Students Award for Teaching Excellence in 2019.[5]

On December 21, 2021, the Wall Street Journal reported that Birdthistle would join the Securities and Exchange Commission as director of the division of investment management.[6]

Birdthistle joined the faculty at the University of Chicago Law School in April, 2024.[1]

Selected publications

• Birdthistle, William A. (2016) Empire of the Fund: The Way We Save Now. Oxford University Press.
• Birdthistle, William A. (2018) Research Handbook on the Regulation of Mutual Funds. Edward Elgar Press (co-edited with John D. Morley).

References

1. "William Birdthistle Faculty Page". Retrieved 5 July 2024.
2. "William Birdthistle Named Director of Division of Investment Management". Securities and Exchange Commission. 21 December 2021. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
3. "William A. Birdthistle". Retrieved 10 November 2021.
4. "William A. Birdthistle curriculum vitae" (PDF). www.kentlaw.iit.edu. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
5. "William Birdthistle Teaching Award UChicago 2019". Retrieved 10 November 2021.
6. Kiernan, Paul (21 December 2021). "SEC Taps Academic to Oversee Mutual Funds Amid Push for Stricter Rules". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 18 February 2022.