Bill Quirk

Education

After earning his Ph.D. in Astrophysics from Columbia at the age of 24, Bill became a postdoctoral fellow at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, where he published papers on Galactic Structure.

Physicist

Upon returning to New York City, Bill joined NASA as a research scientist and developed the Goddard Institute Climate Model, which he used for some of the first studies of climate change. Bill left NASA to work at the management consulting firm, McKinsey and Company in New York City in their computer system practice. Bill then worked in the computer industry in Silicon Valley before settling into a career at the Lawrence Livermore National Lab (LLNL), where he established himself in the fields of atmospheric science and nuclear technology design. Bill became this country’s expert in nuclear programs in numerous foreign countries. Bill prepared reports for the Presidential Daily Brief and played a key role in the negotiations for the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Teaching physics at Columbia, Caltech and UC Davis helped Bill formulate his lifelong interest in education.

Quirk was a physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Lab for 26 years 1979-2005. In 1996, he helped break the deadlock in the negotiations of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty In the early '90s, he also showed that the plutonium parts of nuclear weapons could be reused. This resulted in the closing of the Rocky Flats plutonium fabrication facility near Denver. This removed the threat of a major environment disaster in the Denver metropolitan area. There had already been a major fire at the facility that had threatened to spread plutonium oxide across the metropolitan area.

City Council

Bill served from 2004-12 on the Hayward City Council. While on the Council, Bill served on the Board of Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency, and the Hayward Area Shoreline Planning Agency. While on the city council, Bill has been dedicated to revitalizing Hayward through promoting jobs and safe and clean neighborhoods.

California State Assembly

Quirk is the only rocket engineer to serve in the California legislature. He has a Ph.D. in astrophysics from Columbia University (1970).

Since being elected to the California State Assembly in November 2012, Bill has served on 5 committees: Rules, which determines what committees bills are sent to. Appropriations, which determines whether bills that appropriate funds can proceed to a vote of the full assembly. Utilities and Commerce that deals with the state’s telecommunication, electric, gas, and water utilities. Agriculture and Public Safety.

In 2014, Quirk authored a bill that made it easier to get domestic violence restraining orders in California. The bill AB2089 goes into effect January 1, 2015.

In 2016, Quirk authored Assembly Bill 2130 titled "An act to amend Section 281 of the Public Utilities Code, relating to telecommunications," which would freeze the California Advanced Services Fund broadband infrastructure subsidy program and replace it with what amounts to a $100 million no-strings gift from the taxpayers to (mostly) AT&T, according to Steve Blum of Tellus Venture Associates. In September 2016, the California State University East Bay Educational Foundation of Quick's district was selected as one of 18 recipients nationwide that shared in $10 million from AT&T through the Aspire Connect to Success Competition. Hundreds of organizations applied to the competition, which is part of Aspire, AT&T’s philanthropic initiative.

In 2017, Quirk was principal coauthor of the controversial California Senate SB 649 which would remove a city's ability to control where the technology is placed and transfer that power to the state and is considered "an unconstitutional bill that forcibly exposes neighborhoods to constant, hazardous 4G/5G microwave radiation."

2014 California State Assembly

2016 California State Assembly

Personal life

Bill and his wife Laurel moved to the Hayward area in 1978. They raised two children who attended Moreau Catholic High School and the University of California. Since moving to Hayward in 1978, Bill served the community as President of Hayward Friends of the Library and Chair, Hayward Library Commission. He is a Member of Hayward Rotary, the Hayward Arts Council and the Hayward Area Historical Society.