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William Claiborne Ferguson IV, known as Bill Ferguson, is an American politician, attorney, and former schoolteacher. He is a Democratic member of the Maryland Senate, representing the 46th legislative district since 2011, and serving as the President of the Maryland Senate since January 8, 2020.

Born in Silver Spring, Maryland, on April 15, 1983, Ferguson pursued his education at Davidson College, where he earned a B.A. in Political Science and Economics in 2005. He then went on to earn his M.A.T. from The Johns Hopkins University School of Education in 2007, and his J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law in 2010, graduating magna cum laude.

Before his political career, Ferguson was a Teach for America high school teacher in the Baltimore City Public Schools from 2005 to 2007. He also served as a part-time community liaison in the President’s Office of the Baltimore City Council from 2005 to 2006 and as a Special Assistant to the Chief Executive Officer of the Baltimore City Public Schools from 2009 to 2010.

Ferguson entered the Senate as a 27-year-old in 2011, after defeating a seven-term incumbent, Sen. George W. Della Jr., in the 2010 Democratic primary. This victory marked the beginning of his extraordinary trajectory to the top job in the chamber. In 2020, he succeeded Sen. Thomas Miller Jr. as the state Senate president, becoming the youngest person to hold this position.

Throughout his tenure, Ferguson has been a member of several committees and task forces, including the Budget and Taxation Committee, the Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee, and the Joint Committee on Children, Youth, and Families, among others.

In addition to his political career, Ferguson is also a lawyer and has been admitted to the Maryland Bar since 2011. He has been the Director of Reform Initiatives at the School of Education at The Johns Hopkins University since 2012.