William Mays
Transcend. William Mays, founder and president of Mays Chemical Company, is among the most successful black business people in Indiana.
His company, which began as a one-person operation in 1980, now has over 250 employees and over $180 million in sales. In addition to numerous awards for excellence, it is listed as one of the 20 largest chemical distribution companies in North America and is ranked in Black Enterprise magazine’s top 25 most successful black-owned companies. Mays Chemical Company’s Web site sums up the company’s approach to leadership as “transcending boundaries,” a theme highly appropriate for both the company and Mays’ personal success.
Mays’ background in chemistry and business from Indiana University (B.A.’70, Chemistry; M.B.A.’73) prepared him well for the challenges of business. After he received his M.B.A., he worked as assistant to the president at Cummins Engine Company in Columbus, Indiana, for four years. His next role was president of Specialty Chemicals, a small chemical distributorship in Indianapolis, where he increased the company’s sales from $300,000 to more than $5 million. He resigned after three years with the company due to a dispute over the lack of minorities on the company’s board of directors, refusing to continue marketing the company as minority-run when it was not. He founded Mays Chemical Company that same year.
Mays also owns The Indianapolis Recorder, the nation’s fourth-oldest African American newspaper, and is active in the community, serving on a variety of boards and organizations, including the Indiana University Foundation and the Indiana University President’s Council. He also holds numerous awards, including the Indiana University’s Herman B Wells Visionaries Award (2000), IU School of Nursing Emeritus Award (2000), Madam C. J. Walker Lifetime Achievement Award (1998), and many others. Mays was elected into the Advantage Magazine Black Business Hall of Fame in 1996 and carried the Olympic flame through Indianapolis in 1996. He is married to Dr. Rose Mays, associate dean of the Center for Community and International Affairs at the Indiana University School of Nursing in Indianapolis. They have two daughters and one granddaughter.
