Bill Lawrence '90

Bill Lawrence '90 is the creator and executive producer of NBC's Emmy nominated series, Scrubs, which was named a "Future Classic" by the TV Land cable network, won a Humanitas Prize, and was nominated for a Television Critics award, two Emmy Awards and a People's Choice Award -- all in its first season. In addition, Lawrence also received three Producers Guild nominations for his work on the series.

A native of Ridgefield, Conn., Lawrence studied creative writing at the College of William and Mary and dreamed of writing the great American novel. After he graduated, a family friend, television writer Norman Barasch, advised him to write for television, so he moved to Los Angeles and began penning scripts. After several months, he was signed by the managers of Jerry Seinfeld, and his career began to take off.

Lawrence wrote his first television script at the age of 22 for the comedy series Billy, starring Billy Connolly. His career began to skyrocket when he became a staff writer on NBC's Friends during its first season, penning the series' Valentine's Day episode. By age 26, he had teamed with Gary David Goldberg (Family Ties) to co-create Spin City, Michael J. Fox's return to network television. Lawrence continued to work on the series as a writer and producer, and became executive producer in the 1998-99 season. He also returned to the series in 2001 to write Fox's farewell episode, which garnered the actor an Emmy Award later that year.

In addition to Scrubs, Lawrence is the executive producer and co-creator of the animated television series Clone High, which aired from Nov. 2002 to April 2003.

Lawrence currently resides in Los Angeles with his wife, actress Christa Miller, and their three children.

"College was one of the high times of my life," said Lawrence. "So much so that I had times of panic that I thought I'd be one of those people who peaked at 19. The friends I made at William and Mary have stayed with me -- Scrubs is based on one -- and it is the school's inherent charm that made this possible. You feel like you are part of a community the day you get there." -- Sources: ABC, W&M News

Back to Notable Alumni