william cavanaugh iii is an american businessman and philanthropist with a long history of leadership positions in the energy production and real estate industries 
born in new orleans cavanaugh served in the united states navy for eight years before jumping into work in the energy sector he served in leadership roles at several energy companies and was most recently on the board of directors of duke realty which was an american real estate investment trust reit based in indianapolis cavanaugh has also been a key player in fighting deregulation in the energy industry and in the safe exploration of nuclear energy investopedia alison czinkotaearly life and educationwilliam cavanaugh iii was born in new orleans louisiana in 1939 as a young man he enrolled at tulane university in new orleans where he studied mechanical engineering he received his undergraduate degree in 1961 1upon graduation cavanaugh enlisted in the u s navy where he served for the next eight years he learned important lessons about nuclear power generation through the navy s nuclear submarine program he received an honorable discharge from the navy in 1969 23cavanaugh attended the kidder peabody utility corporate finance program in 1983 and harvard university s advanced management program in 1991 4 as a working student these designations helped prepare him for senior management roles in production within the energy sector notable accomplishmentsafter leaving the navy cavanaugh began his career at entergy in new orleans there he served in executive leadership roles at three of the firm s electric utility subsidiaries 3he joined carolina power light company as the company s president and chief operating officer coo in 1992 seven years later he rose to the role of chairman and chief executive officer ceo as the company s leader he was a key player in the firm s acquisition of florida progress which cp l bought for 54 a share 3the combined company adopted a new name progress energy and became what was at the time the ninth largest energy producer in the united states under cavanaugh s leadership the firm grew to become a fortune 500 company with a new headquarters in raleigh north carolina with approximately 8 billion in annual revenues 53 cavanaugh retired from the company in 2004 cavanaugh then served as chair of the world association of nuclear operators wano wano is an international association of nuclear power plant operators dedicated to promoting the safe exploitation of nuclear energy 3 the title of chairman is now held by tom mitchell former president and ceo of ontario power generation in canada 6cavanaugh was elected to the membership of the national academy of engineering in 2001 for his efforts to enhance electricity generated from nuclear power by establishing and achieving exemplary levels of performance 3he also had conferred on him the william s lee award for industry leadership from the nuclear energy institute and the american nuclear society s walter h zinn award 3progress energy was taken over by duke energy in july 2012 in a 26 billion merger that formed the nation s largest electric utility at the time 7legacycongress passed laws between 1989 and 1994 that allowed the purchase and sale of power on a wholesale basis and for energy to be traded cavanaugh notably resisted the resulting trend to shift operations into energy trading rather than jump in and expand the company in this way he remained cautious he focused on progress s primary business and helped keep it afloat this is in contrast to other players in the energy sector at the time such as enron corporation the leader in this movement enron was later disgraced after it was accused of lying to shareholders and manipulating energy markets its corporate leaders were prosecuted cavanaugh s skepticism led him to lobby against the deregulation of the energy industry in the end cavanaugh was vindicated and his reputation as a ceo with integrity grew cavanaugh is a professor emeritus at the university of south florida institute for advanced discovery innovation 3personal lifecavanaugh has been an active philanthropist whether donating to charities such as the american cancer society and the united way or investing in communities 8he is married to alyce lee cocchiara the couple has four children kyle craig chris and connie 2