William A. Clement, Jr.
Entrepreneur and corporate chief executive William Alexander Clement, Jr. was born on January 22, 1943 in Atlanta, Georgia to politician Josephine Dobbs Clement and Executive Vice President for North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company William Alexander Clement, Sr. Clement received his B.A. degree from Morehouse College in 1964, majoring in mathematics and business administration, and his M.B.A. degree in finance and insurance from Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1967.
Clement worked as a credit analyst for NCNB Corporation (predecessor to Bank of America) in Charlotte, North Carolina, as a registered representative for Bache & Company as well as a representative for The Robinson-Humphrey Company prior to becoming vice president and senior loan officer of Citizens Trust Bank in 1973. In 1977, Clement was a political appointee in the Carter Administration and served as an associate administrator of the United States Small Business Administration. While in this position, he served as senior management officer for the federal government’s largest minority business development program. Clement also received a presidential appointment by President Jimmy Carter to join the board of directors of the National Consumer Cooperative Bank in Washington, D.C. In addition, he was founder and former chairman and chief executive officer of DOBBS, RAM & Company, a systems integration company. Founded in 1981, DOBBS, RAM & Company was engaged by the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to maintain its E-Filing System.
Clement became an outside director of Atlanta Life Insurance Company in 1992, and in 2001, the board of directors named him chairman. In 2008, Clement was elected president and chief executive officer of the Atlanta Life Financial Group, Inc., and worked in this position for three years. He also served on the boards of two publicly-traded companies, Radiant Systems, Inc. and TRX, Inc.
Clement has been active in numerous civic and community organizations. He was former chair of the board of Opportunity Funding Corporation, a trustee of the Maynard Jackson Youth Foundation, and a former trustee of the Woodruff Arts Center. He served on the board of directors of The Commerce Club and the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce. Clement was also a charter member of the 100 Black Men of Atlanta, a former co-chair of the Atlanta Action Forum and a former chair of the Atlanta Business League. He has served as a member of the trustee board ministry of Antioch Baptist Church, as co-grantor of the Brown-Clement Endowed Scholarship Fund at Morehouse College, and a member of the Society of International Business Fellows.
Clement is married to R. Ressie Guy-Clement and is the father of two daughters and the grandfather of two grandchildren.
William Alexander Clement, Jr. was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on March 27, 2007.
A2007.114
Male
3/27/2007
Clement
Married
A.
Morehouse College
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
W. G. Pearson S.T.E.A.M. Elementary School
Whitted Elementary School
Hillside High School
Willliam
Atlanta
CLE05
Spring, Summer
Georgia
Caribbean
Don't give in, don't give up, and don't give out.

Georgia
1/22/1943
Atlanta
United States
Fried Chicken, Collard Greens, Potatoes, Cornbread
Corporate chief executive and entrepreneur William A. Clement, Jr. (1943 - ) is the co-founder of DOBBS, RAM & Company and, as of 2008, serves as the President and CEO of the Atlanta Life Financial Group, Inc.
Atlanta Life Insurance Company
DOBBS, RAM & Company
United States Small Business Administration
Citizens Trust Bank
Robinson-Humphey Company
Bache & Company
NCNB Corporation (predecessor to Bank of America)
Blue
Tape: 1 Story: 1 - Slating of William A. Clement, Jr.'s interview
Tape: 1 Story: 2 - William A. Clement, Jr. lists his favorites
Tape: 1 Story: 3 - William A. Clement, Jr. describes his maternal family history, pt.1
Tape: 1 Story: 4 - William A. Clement, Jr. describes his maternal family history, pt.2
Tape: 1 Story: 5 - William A. Clement, Jr. describes his paternal family history
Tape: 1 Story: 6 - William A. Clement, Jr. talks about his father, William Clement, Sr.
Tape: 1 Story: 7 - William A. Clement, Jr. remembers his grandparents' farm on Edisto Island in South Carolina
Tape: 1 Story: 8 - William A. Clement, Jr. talks about how his parents met
Tape: 1 Story: 9 - William A. Clement, Jr. describes his childhood neighborhood of Buttermilk Bottom in Atlanta, Georgia
Tape: 1 Story: 10 - William A. Clement, Jr. recalls his childhood memories of Durham, North Carolina
Tape: 1 Story: 11 - William A. Clement, Jr. describes his mother, Josephine Dobbs Clement
Tape: 1 Story: 12 - William A. Clement, Jr. describes his father, William Clement, Sr.
Tape: 1 Story: 13 - William A. Clement, Jr. begins to talk about his elementary school years
Tape: 2 Story: 1 - William A. Clement, Jr. describes his grandfather's emphasis on education, and his mother's sisters
Tape: 2 Story: 2 - William A. Clement, Jr. continues to describe his elementary school years
Tape: 2 Story: 3 - William A. Clement, Jr. remembers his childhood neighborhood in Durham, North Carolina
Tape: 2 Story: 4 - William A. Clement, Jr. talks about his five siblings
Tape: 2 Story: 5 - William A. Clement, Jr. remembers attending majority white summer camps in Boston, Massachusetts as a child
Tape: 2 Story: 6 - William A. Clement, Jr. recalls his activities during his junior high years
Tape: 2 Story: 7 - William A. Clement, Jr. remembers his favorite teacher at Hillside High School in Durham, North Carolina
Tape: 2 Story: 8 - William A. Clement, Jr. describes his decision to attend Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia
Tape: 2 Story: 9 - William A. Clement, Jr. talks about sit-ins in Durham, North Carolina
Tape: 2 Story: 10 - William A. Clement, Jr. describes his experience with segregation
Tape: 2 Story: 11 - William A. Clement, Jr. remembers his senior prom at Hillside High School in Durham, North Carolina
Tape: 2 Story: 12 - William A. Clement, Jr. talks about his experience at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia
Tape: 2 Story: 13 - William A. Clement, Jr. describes Dr. Benjamin Mays and his professors at Morehouse College
Tape: 2 Story: 14 - William A. Clement, Jr. talks about his jobs in college
Tape: 3 Story: 1 - William A. Clement, Jr. talks about working for North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company as a college student
Tape: 3 Story: 2 - William A. Clement, Jr. recalls the desegregation of Rich's Department Store and hearing Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speak
Tape: 3 Story: 3 - William A. Clement, Jr. describes working for Connecticut General Life Insurance Company in Hartford, Connecticut
Tape: 3 Story: 4 - William A. Clement, Jr. talks about his experience at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Tape: 3 Story: 5 - William A. Clement, Jr. talks about his first job out of graduate school with the NCNB Corporation and the bank's history
Tape: 3 Story: 6 - William A. Clement, Jr. talks about his first wife
Tape: 3 Story: 7 - William A. Clement, Jr. recalls working for Bache & Company, and for Robinson-Humphrey Company
Tape: 3 Story: 8 - William A. Clement, Jr. talks about Maynard Jackson's mayoral campaign
Tape: 3 Story: 9 - William A. Clement, Jr. recalls working with Herman Russell and Jesse Hill during Maynard Jackson's mayoral campaign
Tape: 3 Story: 10 - William A. Clement, Jr. talks about the history of Citizens Trust Bank
Tape: 3 Story: 11 - William A. Clement, Jr. details his tenure as vice president of Citizens Trust Bank
Tape: 3 Story: 12 - William A. Clement, Jr. describes his work as an associate administrator of the Small Business Administration in the President Jimmy Carter Administration
Tape: 4 Story: 1 - William A. Clement, Jr. talks about the benefits of his experiences in Washington, D.C.
Tape: 4 Story: 2 - William A. Clement, Jr. talks about the beginning of The Dobbs Corporation
Tape: 4 Story: 3 - William A. Clement, Jr. talks about his company, DOBBS, RAM & Company
Tape: 4 Story: 4 - William A. Clement, Jr. talks about his second marriage
Tape: 4 Story: 5 - William A. Clement, Jr. talks about how he became the chairman of Atlanta Life Insurance in 2001
Tape: 4 Story: 6 - William A. Clement, Jr. talks about his work on the board of Radiant Systems, Inc.
Tape: 4 Story: 7 - William A. Clement, Jr. talks about the national reach of Atlanta Life Financial Group
Tape: 4 Story: 8 - William A. Clement, Jr. talks about his church, Antioch Baptist Church North in Atlanta, Georgia
Tape: 4 Story: 9 - William A. Clement, Jr. talks about his participation in 100 Black Men and the Maynard Jackson Youth Foundation
Tape: 4 Story: 10 - William A. Clement, Jr. describes his work on the Opportunity Funding Corporation and Friends of Morehouse
Tape: 4 Story: 11 - William A. Clement, Jr. talks about his parents' deaths and managing Maynard Jackson's estate
Tape: 4 Story: 12 - William A. Clement, Jr. talks about politicians in his family
Tape: 5 Story: 1 - William A. Clement, Jr. talks about his grandchildren
Tape: 5 Story: 2 - William A. Clement, Jr. shares his advice for future generations
Tape: 5 Story: 3 - William A. Clement, Jr. shares his business advice
Tape: 5 Story: 4 - William A. Clement, Jr. reflects upon his legacy
Tape: 5 Story: 5 - William A. Clement, Jr. describes his hopes and concerns for the African American community
Tape: 5 Story: 6 - William A. Clement, Jr. talks about what he would do differently
Tape: 5 Story: 7 - William A. Clement, Jr. narrates his photographs
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