Ken Williams celebrated his fifth season as general manager of the Chicago White Sox in 2005 by winning the third World Series title in the franchise’s history and the club’s first since 1917.

Williams, who concluded his sixth season leading the Sox in 2006, became the 11th general manager in Chicago White Sox history on October 24, 2000. The White Sox have gone 522-450 (.537) with one World Series Championship, one division title, three second-place finishes and two third-place finishes under Williams. His .537 winning percentage ranks as the best in club history for a general manager and sixth-best in the American League during his tenure.

The 2006 White Sox posted a 90-72 record and third-place finish in the AL Central, 6.0 games behind Minnesota and 5.0 behind Detroit. The Sox won 90 or more games in back-to-back seasons for just the fifth time in franchise history and first time since 1963-65. Chicago also recorded 90-plus wins in consecutive seasons in 1954-55 and 1905-06. The 189 combined wins in 2005-06 are the White Sox highest total in back-to-back campaigns since winning 193 in 1964-65. Only five teams in baseball owned a better record than Chicago in 2006. The White Sox went 57-31 in the first half of the season and entered the break in second place in the AL Central, 2.0 games behind Detroit. The Sox still led the AL wild card race as late as September 2 and were within 0.5 game of the Twins in the wild card race as late as September 9.

The 2005 World Champion White Sox, built around pitching, defense and timely power, became just the second team in major-league history to lead its division wire-to-wire and go on to sweep the World Series in four games. The other was the 1927 New York Yankees. The Sox were 11-1 in postseason play, winning their final eight games.

Williams hired former White Sox All-Star shortstop and former teammate Ozzie Guillen as the club’s 37th manager on November 3, 2003. Guillen, who played for the Sox from 1985-97, is the first Venezuelan to manage a major league baseball team and bring home a World Series title. Under Guillen and Williams, the White Sox major-league coaching staff features several members who starred for the team as players, including Harold Baines, Joey Cora and Greg Walker.

Since becoming general manager of the Sox, Williams annually has made aggressive moves impacting the majorleague roster. Prior to this season, he acquired RHP David Aardsma (November 16), RHP Gavin Floyd (December 6), LHP Andrew Sisco (December 16), LHP John Danks and RHP Nick Masset (both December 23) in trades, while signing free agents C Toby Hall (December 17) and OF Darin Erstad (January 25) to add even more depth to the club. In 2006, Williams added DH Jim Thome (Phillies), INF/OF Rob Mackowiak (Pirates) and RHP Javier Vazquez (Diamondbacks) to the White Sox via trades. Williams acquired LHP Matt Thornton (Seattle) by trade on March 20, while bolstering the 2006 team during the season by obtaining RHP David Riske (Boston, June 15), C Sandy Alomar Jr. (Los Angeles-NL, July 23) and RHP Mike MacDougal (Kansas City, July 24).

Prior to 2005, the White Sox signed five free agents – OF Jermaine Dye, RHP Dustin Hermanson, RHP Orlando Hernandez, Japanese INF Tadahito Iguchi and C A.J. Pierzynski – and each played a key role in helping the team to the World Series title. The Sox also acquired OF Scott Podsednik and RHP Luis Vizcaino in a December 13 trade with the Brewers. In 2004, Williams signed RHP Shingo Takatsu, Japan’s all-time saves leader, who was the first Japanese player for the White Sox, while in 2003, he signed free agent RHP Esteban Loaiza, who went on to win 21 games and started the 2003 All-Star Game at U.S. Cellular Field.

During his tenure, Williams has acquired 148 players in 51 trades involving the major-league roster, adding notables such as Roberto Alomar (2003-04), Bartolo Colon (2003), Jose Contreras (2004-present), Carl Everett (2003-05), Freddy Garcia (2004-06), Rob Mackowiak (2006-present), Jim Thome (2006-present), Javier Vazquez (2006- present) and David Wells (2001). He claimed right-hander Bobby Jenks (2005-present) off waivers, has signed Sandy Alomar Jr. (2001-04), Jose Canseco (2001), Tom Gordon (2003) and Kenny Lofton (2002) as free agents, and signed current Sox players Mark Buehrle, Jon Garland, Paul Konerko, Pierzynski and Juan Uribe to multiyear contracts. In Williams’ seven seasons as general manager, the Sox farm system has developed third basemen Joe Crede and Josh Fields and outfielders Brian Anderson, Jerry Owens, Aaron Rowand and Ryan Sweeney.

Williams is the first African-American general manager in Chicago sports history and the third in major-league history, following Bill Lucas (Atlanta, 1979) and Bob Watson (Houston, 1994-95/Yankees, 1996-97). From 2001- 03, Williams and Jerry Manuel formed the first African-American general manager/manager tandem in majorleague history. He was listed by Black Enterprise as one of the “Most Powerful Blacks in Sports” for 2005. Williams served as the club’s director of minor league operations from 1995-96 and was promoted to vice president of player development for four additional seasons (1997-2000). Under his direction, the White Sox were named 2000 Organization of the Year by Baseball America, USA Today and Howe SportsData.

Williams has spent 26 seasons in professional baseball and 23 with the White Sox in a variety of capacities, including player, scout and special assistant to the chairman. He served as the director of minor league operations/special assistant to the chairman from November 1995 until becoming vice president of player development in 1997. He joined the club in November 1992 as a scout, specializing in the inner cities, and was named special assistant to chairman Jerry Reinsdorf in 1994. He also worked at SportsChannel in 1995 as a studio analyst on Sox telecasts.

Active in the organization’s community outreach programs, Williams played a key part in the White Sox introducing the Direct Instruction program to the Chicago Public Schools system. He is on the board of Athletes Against Drugs.

A former outfielder with the White Sox (1986-88), Detroit (1989-90), Toronto (1990-91) and Montreal (1991), Williams appeared in 451 career major-league games. He was a lifetime .218 hitter (252-1,157) with 27 home runs and 119 RBI. His best season came as a rookie in 1987, when he hit .281 with 11 home runs and 50 RBI for the White Sox. Williams originally was selected by the Sox in the third round of the June 1982 free agent draft.

Born on April 6, 1964, in Berkeley, Calif., Williams attended Stanford University, where he played football. Williams and his wife, Jessica, have five children: Temeka, Dedrick, Ken Jr., Kyle and Tyler.