2017 DSS Recipient: William J. Stembler

 

William Jenkins Stembler is a native Atlantan, and is the second son of Kathrine and John Stembler.  In 1968 he graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Science Business Administration degree and in 1971 received his Juris Doctor from the University of Georgia School of Law. 

 

Stembler's first employment after law school was with the Securities and Exchange Commission as an enforcement attorney.  After working there for two years he left the SEC to join his family's business, the original Georgia Theatre Company. He became president ten years later. Stembler assisted in the sale of the company in 1986 and later created Georgia Theatre Company-II (GTC) in 1991.

 

Coastal Georgia serves as the headquarters of GTC, where Stembler serves as its chairman. GTC currently employees almost 1,000 people and operates 260 screens in four southeastern states. 

 

Stembler is a past recipient of the highest award given annually by the National Association of Theatre Owners and co-chaired the association's establishment in 2010 of Cinemacon, which is the world's largest annual gathering of theatre exhibition.

 

He and his wife, Anne, are the parents of three married daughters and eight grandchildren.