William F. Bundy addresses a meeting on behalf of FleetBoston.

Building on technology, William F. Bundy’s first career took him from U.S. Navy enlisted man to submarine commander. His second career, in government service, ended up in a governor’s cabinet. Now Commander Will Bundy, U.S. Navy (retired), is working on his third career. As an IT exec in a financial institution, he participates in decisions that influence the way society does business.

Bundy is director of technology and operations/support services for FleetBoston Financial (Boston, MA). Fleet is the seventh-largest financial holding company in the U.S., with assets of over $192 billion and 20 million customers in more than twenty countries.

Fleet offers retail banking, wealth management and investment services, nationwide brokerage, credit card and consumer lending services through 1,500 branches and more than 3,500 ATMs in the Northeast, as well as online and via telephone. Fleet’s Wholesale Banking division offers commercial banking, commercial finance, capital markets and global processing services.

Cross-functional support
Bundy’s operation provides cross-functional support for three IT organizations within Fleet. The consumer technology and ops organization supports the banking function itself. The wholesale technology and operations organization provides technology needed for those services. Global Technology Services is the IT infrastructure group.

One of Bundy’s important duties is helping prepare the company’s IT projects plan, which runs to about $150 million annually. He works with senior technology planners to develop the enterprise project plan, resource analysis and budget for Fleet IT services.

Banking: important 24/7
“Technology enables business and is introduced to either sustain business or provide new delivery channels,” says Bundy. “Technology people support business people in achieving business strategy.

“Our business covers everything from wholesale and commercial banking to making sure your credit card is acceptable anyplace you may go. Customers need access to their money and their accounts 24/7, and it’s all being done through IT solutions.”

Commander Bundy at the Naval War College.

The Navy adventure
Bundy grew up in Baltimore and enlisted in the Navy out of high school. “I was interested in submarines and technology,” he says. “I thought it was the right choice for me.”

The Navy sent him off to sonar school in Key West, FL, where he was one of about ten African American students in a school of 3,000. He became a sonar technician, then went on to oceanographic systems and complex computer-integrated systems. “I started out at the ground level with computer systems, making sure that the hardware was working, and progressed to writing analysis programs and supervising operations, maintenance and support teams.”

He began attending Leeward Community College when he was stationed in Pearl Harbor, HI. He received an AA with a concentration in CS, and went on to the University of Hawaii, where he earned a BA with distinction in liberal studies and technical journalism.

Commissioned as an officer
After ten years as an enlisted man, Bundy was commissioned as an officer. Over the next twenty years his assignments ranged from technical management positions to plans officer for Trident-Poseidon missile systems and ultimately to submarine command. He was the first African American to rise from the enlisted ranks to command a submarine. Soon after his command tour and submarine service, he was awarded the 1993 Black Engineer of the Year Award for outstanding government service.

Bundy earned a masters degree with distinction in national security and strategic studies, the equivalent of a civilian MBA, at the U.S. Naval War College, then took the helm at the Naval Officer Candidate School in Newport, RI.

Along the way, he joined the National Naval Officers Association (NNOA), an organization of current and former African American naval officers. NNOA helped him find mentors, who “turned into good friends and sponsors.” He served a term as a regional VP of the association.

Government in Rhode Island
Shortly after Bundy retired from the Navy he was appointed executive director of the Rhode Island Minority Business Enterprise Commission. He assumed responsibility for promoting small business and gathering government support for woman- and minority-owned businesses. He went on to serve as director of transportation for Rhode Island, where he moved the department into the technology age with the introduction of desktop computing and an Intelligent Transportation System for traffic control.

When he decided to leave government for the private sector, he joined Fleet Financial Group, which later merged with Bank Boston to create FleetBoston Financial. He is continuing his formal education as a candidate for a PhD at Salve Regina University. As you might expect, his chosen area is technology leadership and governance.

BDPA at Fleet
“We have a very strong diversity focus throughout Fleet,” says Bundy. “We want our employees to reflect the customers and communities we serve.”

At Fleet, Bundy is corporate champion for Black Data Processing Associates (BDPA). He has introduced BDPA to Fleet IT professionals in the northeastern U.S. as the representative of Fleet’s vice chair, Joe Smialowski. Smialowski worked with BDPA when he was CIO at Sears in Chicago.

Bundy was recently appointed to the BDPA board of directors where he’s responsible for liaison and promotion. He’s also a member of the IT Senior Managers Forum, a group for IT managers which has close ties to BDPA.

Fleet employees recently started a new BDPA chapter in Rhode Island and several Massachusetts folks joined the established Boston chapter. Fleet is sponsoring another chapter in Albany, NY. “Self-development can be pursued at work or on your own, but it’s so much better when you have an organization like BDPA that offers training and networking opportunities,” Bundy says.

“BDPA is a lot like NNOA. Both organizations offer their members professional development support and have a focus on supporting the African American community,” he comments.

Fleet has helped put a computer lab in a local Rhode Island school and a technology center in a Castleton, NY Boys and Girls Club, and has formed a technology advisory board for a community college in Boston.

“At Fleet we try to make a positive impact in the communities we serve, and part of that effort is focused on bridging the digital divide,” Bundy says. “Throughout each of my careers I’ve had the benefit of participating in associations that have helped me develop. In the Navy it was NNOA and now I am involved with BDPA and the IT forum. That’s why I have promoted BDPA at Fleet and with our technology partners.”

When Commander Bundy left the Navy, he took with him the passion, integrity, commitment and moral courage that the service engenders. “People who have those principles and core values working for them are in a position to do well in any endeavor,” Bundy declares.

D/C

– Kate Colborn & Christine Willard