In past lives, Bill founded four high-technology companies in the film and television industries. The companies were small but successful, leading to an EMMY award and two acquisitions by public companies. He was a research professor at the University of Virginia from 2006-2021 and while there directed a number of academic efforts for K-12 educators and scholars that have won numerous awards and received funding from the American Library Association, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the DuPont Foundation, and the Library of Congress. He is the author of four books: * Painting with Light: A guide to laser marquetry and Inlay (2024) Marqet-place Press * Sage on the screen: Education, Media, and How We Learn. (2016) Johns Hopkins University Press * Teaching Machines: Learning from the intersection of education and technology. (2014) Johns Hopkins University Press * Interactive visualization: Insight through inquiry. (2012) MIT Press
