About William Stanek

William Stanek - About William Stanek

Author William Robert Stanek

William R. Stanek (http://www.williamstanek.com) is one of the world's leading authorities for Windows, server, database and Web technologies, and the award-winning author of over 100 books. He is an expert on and writes about Active Directory, Group Policy, Windows, Windows Server, Exchange Server, SQL Server, IIS, PowerShell, and Web technologies. Current or forthcoming books include Active Directory Administrator's Pocket Consultant, Group Policy Administrator's Pocket Consultant, Windows 7 Administrator's Pocket Consultant, Windows PowerShell 2.0 Administrator's Pocket Consultant, and Windows 7: The Definitive Guide. William's books and writings are frequently quoted and referred to by his peers in their own books and professional publications. William was also quoted by Donald Trump in his business books.

William has been involved in the commercial Internet community since 1991. His core business and technology experience comes from over 11 years of military service. He frequently serves as a subject matter expert and consultant. Currently, he writes for TechNet Magazine and blogs for both Microsoft (http://blogs.msdn.com/microsoft_press/archive/tags/William+Stanek/default.aspx) and O'Reilly (http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/au/2573).

William has an MS with distinction in information systems and a BS in computer science, magna cum laude, from Hawaii Pacific University. He is proud to have served in the Persian Gulf War as a combat crewmember on an electronic warfare aircraft. He flew on numerous combat missions into Iraq and was awarded nine medals for his wartime service, including one of the United States of America's highest flying honors, the Air Force Distinguished Flying Cross. Currently, he resides in the Pacific Northwest with his wife and children.

William recently rediscovered his love of the great outdoors. When he's not writing, teaching, or making presentations, he can be found hiking, biking, backpacking, traveling, or trekking in search of adventure.

BACKGROUND

William was born in Burlington Wisconsin where he attended Public Schools including Janes School Elementary in Racine Wisconsin. He is the second youngest of five children. After a career in the military, he settled in Washington State, having been captivated by the rugged beauty of the Pacific Northwest.

In 1985 he enlisted in the US Air Force and entered a 2-year training program in Intelligence and Linguistics at the Defense Language Institute. After graduation he served in various field operations duties in Asia and Europe. In 1990 he won an appointment to Air Combat School and shortly after graduation served in the Persian Gulf War as a combat crewmember on an electronic warfare aircraft. During his two tours in the Persian Gulf War, William flew numerous combat and combat support missions, logging over two hundred combat flight hours. His distinguished accomplishments during the war earned him nine medals, including the United States of America’s highest flying honor, the Air Force Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal, the Air Force Commendation Medal, and the Humanitarian Service Medal. He earned 29 decorations in his 11-year military career.

In 1994 William earned his bachelor’s degree magna cum laude from Hawaii Pacific University. In 1995 he earned his master’s degree with distinction from Hawaii Pacific University. In 1996 he separated from the military, having spent 11 years in the United States Air Force. His last station while in the Air Force was at the 324th Intelligence Squadron, Wheeler Army Airfield, Hawaii.

Born into a family of readers, William was always reading and creating stories. Even before he started school, he read classics like Treasure Island, The Swiss Family Robinson, Kidnapped, Robinson Crusoe, and The Three Musketeers. Later in his childhood, he started reading Jules Verne, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Ray Bradbury, Herman Melville, Jack London, Charles Dickens, and Edgar Allan Poe. Of that he says, “Edgar Allan Poe can be pretty bleak and dark, especially when you’re ten years old. But I remember being fascinated with his stories. To this day, I can still remember parts of The Raven, The Tell Tale Heart, and The Murders in the Rue Morgue.”

William completed his first novel in 1986 when he was stationed in Japan but it wasn’t until nearly a decade later that his first book was published. Since then, he has written and had published over 100 book. In 1997, William was dubbed "A Face Behind the Future" in a feature article about his life in The Olympian. At the time, he was breaking new ground in shaping the future of business on the Internet. Today, William continues to help shape the future of Internet business and Technology in general, writing authoritative books covering these subjects for a variety of publishers.

William has won many awards from his colleagues and the publishing industry. While in the military, he was stationed in Texas, Japan, Germany, and Hawaii. He served in support of Operation Desert Storm, Operation Desert Shield, and Operation Provide Comfort. In precedence order, military honors William received are as follows:

§ Distinguished Flying Cross

§ Air Medal

§ Air Force Commendation Medal

§ Air Force Achievement Medal

§ Joint Meritorious Unit Award

§ Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with 4 devices

§ Combat Readiness Medal

§ Air Force Good Conduct Medal with 2 devices

§ National Defense Service Medal

§ Southwest Asia Service Medal with 2 devices

§ Humanitarian Service Medal

§ Air Force Overseas Long Tour Ribbon with 2 devices

§ Air Force Longevity Service Award Ribbon with 1 device

§ NCO Professional Military Education Graduate Ribbon

§ Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon

§ Air Force Training Ribbon

§ Kuwait Liberation Medal

§ Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait)

*Each device represents an additional award of the same honor.

Through the years, William has always been surrounded by women. Not only was he the second youngest in his family, but he was also the only boy. Currently, he resides in the Pacific Northwest with his wife and children. Having spent his life surrounded by women has given William a fairly good view of the workings of the female mind, which has helped him in his fiction writing. For him, it was a choice between figuring women out or always being frustrated. For fun he used to spend a lot of time mountain biking and hiking, but now his adventures in the great outdoors are mostly restricted to short treks around the Pacific Northwest.

In 2009, William's 100th book was published by Microsoft. William shares the innovative writing and organizational techniques that have helped him put nearly 10 million words on the printed page in Effective Writing for Business, College and Life, available in print, audio and digital media from Reagent Press. William's life-long commitment to the printed word has helped him become one of the leading technology authors in the world today.

It’s been a fairly open secret that William also writes as Robert Stanek. His fiction books have been featured in these printed books: Popular Series Fiction for Middle School and Teen Readers: A Reading and Selection Guide (Children's and Young Adult Literature Reference), Complete Idiots Guide to Elves and Fairies, and Ancient Art of Faery Magick; recommended by the Young Adult library staff at VOYA (Feb 2007), The Journal of Electronic Defense (June 2007), Parenting Magazine (Sept 2008), and others; and featured by Publishers Weekly (April 2009) and others. Reagent Press has been featured in Publishers Weekly, Children's Writer, The Children's Bookshelf, Foreword Magazine, Florida Today, Writer's Digest, The New York Times and other fine publications and periodicals.