William J. Bonenberger of Harleysville, founder and president of W.B. Homes Inc. of North Wales, was unanimously elected chairman of the board of trustees of Williamson College of the Trades in Media, at the board's September meeting.

Bonenberger grew up in Tamaqua and is a 1976 Marian Catholic High School graduate. His father, James, and brother, David, still live in the Tamaqua area.Bonenberger said, "Being appointed chairman by a group of my peers that I have the utmost admiration and respect for and have worked side by side with is something I can't express in words."Bonenberger, who studied masonry at Williamson, graduated in 1976.He joined the board in 2003, has served as vice chairman since 2005, and has been serving as the acting board chairman since the passing of longtime board chairman Wayne C. Watson on July 10. has served on the board for 13 years."I know that with that honor comes great responsibility to ensure that Mr. Williamson's mission will continue to flourish and change young men's lives for generations to come, as it has for the last 128 years," Bonenberger said."I look forward to rolling up my sleeves and working with my colleagues on the board and our president and administration to continue moving Williamson forward."Bonenberger spent six years at Toll Brothers in various capacities, learning the homebuilding business from one of the area's housing leaders.In 1986, Bonenberger founded his own homebuilding and land development company, W.B. Homes Inc., which specializes in acquiring and developing its own land on which it builds upscale single family, townhome, and carriage home communities throughout Bucks and Montgomery counties.The company is also providing the construction management for a new dormitory, the first since 1912, currently under construction on the Williamson campus.W.B. Homes celebrated its 30th anniversary in June, has built more than 75 communities, and more than 2,500 homes since inception.Over the years, W.B. Homes has received many prestigious awards from both the Homebuilders Association of Bucks and Montgomery Counties and the Montgomery County Planning Commission.For many years, Bonenberger participated both financially and as a worker, in Williamson's annual mission trips to the Dominican Republic where the Williamson team of students and alumni spent nearly 12 years building a hospital from the ground up.He also participated in Williamson's first mission trip to El Salvador.Bonenberger is the recipient of the board's I.V. Williamson Award and the Alumni Association's Alumnus of the Year and Distinguished Alumnus Awards. He was recently honored with the Bishop's Distinguished Alumni Award for Marian Catholic High School (Archdiocese of Allentown).