Inducted in 2015
Financial Services Executive
Officer, Various Finance & Budgetary Offices, New York State
Chief of Staff, Governor's Office, NYS
Member, Prep Board of Trustees (1995-2001)

It is extraordinarily fitting that William J. Mulrow, Class of 1974, and the late Fr. Matthew C. Flood, SJ “arrived” together into the Prep Hall of Honor at the same induction ceremony, for throughout Bill’s time at the Prep, he and Fr. Flood would arrive together for classes — at least a couple of mornings a week.

It was an arrangement that had actually begun just by chance one cold winter morning while Billy was still in St. Anthony’s Grammar School. His older brothers, John, Class of 1970, and Michael, Class of 1972, were waiting for the bus on the corner of Taylor Avenue and the Cross Bronx Expressway. A station wagon pulled up — it was the German teacher, Fr. Flood. In those days, Father would offer the early mass at several churches in the Castle Hill section of the Bronx, and his route back to Rose Hill happened to take him past the Mulrow boys’ bus stop at just the time they were leaving for school. And so, with a nod from Mr. and Mrs. Mulrow, morning rides with Fr. Flood would continue — right through John’s and Michael’s Prep years, and through Billy’s four years after.

Of course, others helped to get Bill Mulrow to the Prep as well, not literally on wheels, but certainly by their great love and sacrifice. First and foremost were his parents. Bill was born in 1956, the son of Irish immigrants Michael Mulrow, Sr. and Ellen Ging Mulrow. A machinist and a waitress, the couple worked hard to afford their walk-up apartment at 1427 Taylor Avenue and to put their three boys through school. 

There were also his brothers. Not only did they pave the way for Bill and always look out for him, but in a very special way, they may have played an enormous part in making the Prep a reality for their youngest brother. Knowing that yet another Prep tuition would be too great a great strain on his parents as Bill approached ninth grade, John Mulrow walked into the Prep administration, banged his hand on the desk and pleaded in the name of the Mulrow boys that something be done. Something was done. Bill would enroll for September. It is a story still told among the Mulrows and at the Prep as well.

During his Prep years, which began in Hughes Hall and then moved with the school into Shea Hall, William Mulrow was a member of the Maroon Key, the Prep’s honor society at the time, even serving as its president during his senior year. A dedicated scholar-athlete, he played basketball throughout his Prep career. Among his coaches was fellow Hall of Honor inductee, Fr. Charles Sullivan, SJ. The Prep was a very special time and place for Bill: the friendships, the academic rigor, the spiritual dimension of the community — all of these came together with the proud legacy begun by his brothers before him to make the Fordham Prep experience an important part of the man Bill Mulrow would become.

After his time at Rose Hill, Bill attended Yale University, graduating cum laude in 1978, and then earned an MPA at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Business.

The Fordham Prep, Yale, and Harvard alumnus went on to have a successful career in business. He has held varied high-profile positions in the private sector such as managing director of public finance banking at Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette Securities from 1982 through 1995, director of corporate finance for Rothschild Inc. during the four years following, senior executive for the Paladin Capital Group, head of new product development for Gabelli Asset Management through 2005, senior executive at Citigroup Global Capital Markets from 2005 to 2011, and senior managing director with Blackstone from 2011 to 2015.

Throughout his years in the business world, Mulrow has held numerous public positions including stints with the Office of the New York State Budget Director, the New York State Housing Finance Agency and the New York State Mortgage Agency. He is currently serving as Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Secretary to the Governor.

Along the way, Bill Mulrow has been a tireless and generous supporter of the Prep, serving as chairman of the Board of Trustees from 1995 through 2001, guiding Fordham Prep as it prepared to become a school for the 21st century. He is the recipient of many civic awards including the NAACP New York State Chapter Award, the Whitney Radio Award for Civic Leadership and the North American Board of Rabbis Humanitarian Award.

William Mulrow married Edwyna Strain, a fellow Yale alum, in 1988. They are the parents of two daughters and a son whom they raised in Bronxville, New York: Kelly, Jennifer and Jack.

The Mulrows currently reside in Manhattan.