Universal's Tom Williams Wins Insider of the Year Award

January 1, 2022, 11:36 AM · Theme Park Insider readers have selected outgoing Universal Parks & Resorts Chairman Tom Williams as our Insider of the Year.

A member of the IAAPA Hall of Fame, Williams today is turning leadership of Universal's theme parks over to former Universal Creative head Mark Woodbury. Under Williams' direction, Universal opened theme parks in Japan, Singapore and Beijing, and challenged Disney with world-class expansions highlighted by The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

Tom Williams
Tom Williams

"Williams provided the steady leadership that allowed the parks division to make smart decisions that laid a strong foundation for Universal’s current and future success in the theme park business," I wrote in my Orange County Register column about Williams late last year.

"Tom Williams brought his team above and beyond what was thought possible," a Theme Park Insider reader wrote in nominating Williams for the honor. "Universal constantly shows their guests respect for their time and money."

In the fall, Theme Park Insider invites subscribers to its email newsletter to nominate candidates in each category for the annual Theme Park Insider Awards. If no candidate receives a majority of the nominations in its category, candidates with the most nominations are named finalists. Theme Park Insider readers then are invited to vote for the winner from among those finalists in a poll posted on the front page of the website.

Here are the other winners of the 21st annual Theme Park Insider Awards:

To participate in the selection of the 22nd annual Theme Park Insider Awards, please subscribe to our email newsletter, through which will we send the exclusive nomination forms later this year.

Replies (0)

This article has been archived and is no longer accepting comments.

Park tickets

Weekly newsletter

New attraction reviews

News archive