William Henry Bullock (April 13, 1927 – April 3, 2011) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as bishop of the Diocese of Madison in Wisconsin from 1993 to 2003.^[2]

Bullock previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis in Minnesota from 1980 to 1987 and as bishop of the Diocese of Des Moines in Iowa from 1987 to 1993.

William Bullock was born on April 13, 1927, in Maple Lake, Minnesota. He attended Saint Paul Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, and the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana, from which he received advanced degrees in religious education and liturgy.^[3][4]

Bullock was ordained a priest by Archbishop John Murray on June 7, 1952,^[3][4] for the Archdiocese of Saint Paul. He taught religion for several years and served as headmaster at Saint Thomas Academy, an archdiocesan high school in Mendota Heights, Minnesota. He held a pastoral position at Saint John the Baptist Parish in Excelsior, Minnesota from 1971 to 1980.^[3]

Bullock was appointed as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis and titular bishop of Natchesium on June 3, 1980, by Pope John Paul II.^[3] He was consecrated in St. Paul, Minnesota, on August 12, 1980, by Archbishop John Roach.

On February 10, 1987, Bullock was appointed bishop of the Diocese of Des Moines by John Paul II, succeeding Maurice John Dingman.^[4] He was installed on April 2, 1987. According to the Diocese of Des Moines, Bullock established a policy addressing sexual abuse in 1988, created the St. Joseph Emergency Family Shelter and St. Mary Family Center, and helped establish the Catholic Pastoral Center in Des Moines.^[5]

On April 13, 1993, John Paul II appointed Bullock as the third bishop of the Diocese of Madison; he was installed on June 14, 1993. In 1995, Bullock made the controversial decision to close Holy Name Seminary, a private boys high school in Madison, Wisconsin.^[2] He created an office of Hispanic ministry, and he authorized the construction of a social services center to help new immigrants and the poor. In the final years of his tenure, he created an eight-member sexual abuse review board of mostly lay people to advise the diocese.^[1]

In 2002, Bullock reached the church's mandatory retirement age of 75,^[1] and on May 23, 2003, John Paul II accepted Bullock's resignation as bishop of Madison.^[6][7] Bullock died on April 3, 2011, of lung cancer in Madison.^[1]