W. Ridley Wills II

W. Ridley Wills II, a trustee since 1988, earned his B.A. from Vanderbilt University.

A retired senior vice president of the National Life and Accident Insurance Company, Mr. Wills is an active local historian as well as an adjunct history teacher at Montgomery Bell Academy.

He served for nine years as chairman of the board of directors at Montgomery Bell Academy, chairing a $42 million capital campaign. He has also chaired the board of the YMCA Foundation of Middle Tennessee, is past chairman of the board of the YMCA of Metropolitan Nashville, and currently serves as a board member of the YMCA of Nashville and Middle Tennessee. Former president of the Monteagle Sunday School Assembly, Mr. Wills is also an elder at Nashville’s Downtown Presbyterian Church where he has served as clerk of the session.

Mr. Wills has been honored with numerous awards presented by the YMCA, including the Service to Youth Award, the Red Triangle Award, and the President’s Award. He also received the Alexis de Tocqueville Award from the United Way of Middle Tennessee. The author of eight books, he won the Tennessee History Book Award for the best book on Tennessee history with his first book, History of Belle Meade: Mansion, Plantation, and Stud.

Mr. Wills and his wife, Irene, are the parents of Ridley, Morgan, and Thomas and have five grandchildren.