Remembering Bill Bradway

One of the best things about covering the bank technology industry is the opportunity to work with lots of very smart, interesting and thought-provoking individuals. Bill Bradway, who died April 2 at the age of 64, was not necessarily the most colorful person in the industry, but he certainly was one of the most insightful, helpful and gentlemanly.

Bill, who as president of his own consulting practice Bradway Research partnered with Bank Systems & Technology for several years as a contributing columnist (his last BS&T column appeared in March), had a more-than-30-year career in the financial services industry. He started out as a banker, and then moved to the analyst/consulting side. He helped found TowerGroup, co-founded Meridien Research and helped build the Financial Insights analyst practice for IDC.

"Bill had an uncanny knack of taking all of our up-to-the-minute market knowledge and putting it in the perspective of the broader industry context and history, making his analysis actionable and real," recalls Debbie Williams, Director of Marketing and Business Development, R2 Financial Technologies, who worked with Bill at TowerGroup, Meridien and Financial Insights. "He was the go-to guy for so many in the banking technology community. He will be sorely missed!"

Debbie's observation is right on. It was always a pleasure to work with Bill, whether tapping into his knowledge as an expert source, featuring his objective analyst's perspective on a BS&T webcast, or working with him as a contributor. His death is a loss for this industry.

Bill, a veteran of the U.S. Navy who fought in the Vietnam War, is survived by his wife Paula, his daughters Lindsay and Christina, son-in-law Eric, and brother Craig. For more information, here is a link to his obituary.

Katherine Burger is Editorial Director of Bank Systems & Technology and Insurance & Technology, members of UBM TechWeb's InformationWeek Financial Services. She assumed leadership of Bank Systems & Technology in 2003 and of Insurance & Technology in 1991. In addition to ... View Full Bio