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William 'Billy' Mounger, Chair of the IBC Board of Directors

William Mounger

'Billy' Mounger is a constant presence in the audience at this Competition and an even more constant force in its funding support since 1986. The Third Competition was in trouble when former Jackson Mayor Dale Danks called him to bring the Mounger fund raising expertise to the rescue of the Jackson-based competition. Mounger’s Midas touch with his fellow Mississippians raised $350,000 in six weeks, making the Competition possible.

"That fall my friend Warren Ludlum was slated to become Chair for the 1990 Competition and he asked me to head the fund-raising. I told Warren, ‘Only if I design it, do it my own way !’ Mounger raised $1.0 million for the 1990 competition, which cost $1.90 million. "The cost seems to go up about $200,000-$300,000 every four years. This year’s budget is $2.6 million," and Mounger raised over $1.3 million to make the VII Jackson Competition a reality.

"There is one rule about fund raising," Mounger remarked. "You have to ask for it. If you don’t ask, you don’t get. I’m already fund raising for 2006. Each time we lose some supporters, businesses moving away, people no longer alive, and so, each time, we go on to gain new contributors."

Billy Mounger is proud of the fact he is a native Jacksonian. Short in stature, solid and square in build, he scarcely looks his having reached three quarters of a century. "I’ll be 80 in 2006," he remarked, "and I can’t keep doing this forever. But I haven’t found my successor."

In addition to being a fundraiser for the Republican Party for four decades, Mounger has also been involved in fund raising for West Point, the United StatesMilitary Academy located in New York State. "West Point is celebrating its Bi-centennial this year, and I am vice-chair of major gifts for the Academy. We have exceeded our goal of $150 million with over $200 million raised. Eighty percent of the faculty are military and perhaps twenty percent civilian. We need to insure we can attract good teachers. The reason we need to do this first private fund raising for the Academy in its history is that the Government pays for the basics, but there are many things their budget does not cover. A good instance is the indoor tennis facility, which private funds have made possible. Now tennis players don’t have to travel to a rented space some distance from the Academy."

"In 1944, before I took the Panama Limited to Chicago and then the New York Centrel train to New York and West Point, I had never been further than Memphis, Tennessee and New Orleans, Louisiana, a real redneck," he commented as we walked towards the Mississippi Art Museum complex. "I saw my first ballet performance at the Academy. They have regular cultural programs there, and Broadway shows come up to entertain."

After five years as a U.S. Air Force pilot, Mounger went to the University of Oklahoma for a Master’s degree in petroleum engineering, one of three he acquired along with his native people skills. From there he moved via Exxon into the oil industry in Louisiana, the second ranking state in oil production in the United States. Back to his native Mississippi, Mounger diversified his business interests and was able to retire in 1970.

Obviously retirement doesn’t equal lassitude in the Mounger lexicon. He is a lynchpin for Republican Party financing for any major state or national political campaign.

One of the most endearing comments Mounger left me with, along with the news he is helping with the fund raising for an exhibit from Dresden in some two years’ time, is his further ballet exposure via a movie milestone, "The Red Shoes." "I was in pilot training at Randolph Field near San Antonio, and went with some fellows to see the movie. On my own, I sneaked back to see it a second time because I didn’t want anyone to know I was that interested in ballet."

Obviously, times and attitudes have changed since 1949, and Billy Mounger’s expertise in fund raising has gone a long way in helping to engineer the altering perspective. He also maintains his tennis game.

This piece is part of Ballet.co's overall Jackson Competition coverage. The competition runs from the 15th to the 30th June 2002 and we plan daily reports to keep you in touch:
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