William P. Duplissea is a fifth generation Californian who received an associate degree from Menlo College and a bachelor's degree in history from the University of San Francisco in 1972. During a career in professional football, he briefly was under contract as a defensive tackle with the Dallas Cowboys and a defensive end with the Edmonton Eskimos. Since 1974, Duplissea has owned and operated small business in the Bay Area in equipment sales, contract labor, finance and dry cleaning.
A resident of San Carlos, William P. Duplissea has served as the public member of the OSHAB since his appointment by Governor Pete Wilson on January 16, 1993. The Senate confirmed his original appointment on September 7, 1993. Duplissea was re-appointed in January, 1997 and confirmed by the Senate on January 8, 1998 by a vote of 35-0. Duplissea's term expires January 15, 2001.
Duplissea has held other appointed posts during the Wilson and Deukmejian Administrations. Between 1991, and 1993, he served as Special Assistant of Business Retention at the Business, Transportation, and Housing Agency and later as Director of the Department of Commerce's Office of Manufacturing Retention. During 1989 and 1990, he served as Administrative Director of the Division of Workers' Compensation. In 1991, U.S. Transportation Secretary Samuel Skinner appointed him as the U.S. Department of Transportation's representative on the Metropolitan Transportation Commission which covers the San Francisco Bay Area.
From 1986-1988, Duplissea represented the 20th Assembly District in the California Assembly. The 20th District covered most of San Mateo County. In the Assembly Duplissea was Vice Chair of the Transportation Committee and of the Revenue and Taxation Committee.