Biden appoints Nashville businessman Bill Freeman to Fulbright Board

President Joe Biden announced on Tuesday the appointment of Nashville businessman William H. “Bill” Freeman to the board of the J. William Fulbright Scholarship Awards.

Freeman co-founded the Freeman-Webb Co. with the late Jimmy Webb. The company is a private real estate investment firm specializing in multi-family and commercial properties. In 2018, the pair bought the Nashville weekly alternative paper The Nashville Scene, Nashville Post and NFocus magazine, creating FW Publishing.

In 2015, Freeman ran for Mayor of Nashville, coming in third and barely missing a runoff election. He has been a supporter of local, state and national Democratic candidates and causes for years and played a key role in Biden’s 2020 campaign.

The Fulbright Awards are named after Democratic Sen. William Fulbright, a Rhodes Scholar who represented Arkansas in the U.S. Senate 1945-1972.

According to an announcement from the White House, the Fulbright Scholarship Board supervises the Fulbright Program and certain programs for the selecting students, scholars, teachers, and trainees to participate in the educational exchange programs.

Appointed by the President, the 12-member board meets quarterly in Washington, DC and establishes worldwide policies and procedures for the Program.