William Rustem is an owner of PSC and the firm’s president and chief executive officer. He oversees the company’s finances (annual sales of $3 million), personnel (25 employees and numerous affiliated consultants), client relations, and research projects and serves as senior consultant for many of the firm’s clients; supervises management of specific issues; advises on promotional, marketing, and advocacy strategies; and writes and directs research studies.

Before joining the firm, Mr. Rustem was Gov. William G. Milliken’s chief staff advisor on environmental matters and interim director of the Toxic Substances Control Commission. Following his service with the State of Michigan, Mr. Rustem became the first executive director of the newly established Center for the Great Lakes in Chicago. Mr. Rustem acquired special expertise in issue campaigns. He coordinated the petition drive and campaign in 1976 for the Michigan “bottle bill,” and coordinated the 1984 statewide campaign for the constitutional amendment creating a Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund.

Since joining Public Sector Consultants, he has directed studies on the status of Michigan cities, wastewater treatment needs, recycling, and land use. Mr. Rustem holds special expertise in public policy relating to land use, urban development, and water policy. He is an adjunct professor in three colleges at Michigan State University, and has chaired or been the principal staff for statewide task forces on Department of Natural Resources organization, the MSU Museum, and wetland protection, as well as for the Michigan Land Use Leadership Council. He is also the program director for the People and Land Project, a grant-making program at the W. K. Kellogg Foundation.

Mr. Rustem holds a BS in Social Science and an MS in Resource Development, both from Michigan State University.