Lawrence Ray Williams
- Ethnicity: African American
- Gender: M
- Year of Birth: 1947
- Place of Birth: Point Blank, TX
Office of Associate Dean of Academic Affairs
College of Sciences and Engineering
University of Texas at San Antonio
San Antonio, TX 78249
Voice (210) 458-4430
Fax (210) 458-4438
williams@math.utsa.edu
Education
- Ph.D. Institution: Univ. of Michigan - Ann Arbor, 1976
- Advisor: Carl M. Pearcy
- Dissertation Title: On Quasisimilarity of Operators on Hilbert Space
- MA Institution: University of Michigan, 1972
- BA Institution: Texas Southern University, 1969
Biography
Lawrence Ray Williams attended public school at Paul Laurence Dunbar High
School in Livingston, Texas. He graduated from high school in 1965 and
then matriculated at Texas Southern University. There he encountered many
role models who gave him support and confidence. Williams had never heard
of a graduate degree when he started attending Texas Southern. But thanks
to these mentors, he was made aware of graduate study and encouraged to
attend graduate school. Among his most influential mathematics professors
at Texas Southern University were Dr. Llayron Clarkson and Professors Alvin
Wardlaw, Herman Jenkins and Robinson J. Parsons. He was also greatly influenced
by Dr. Duvvury A.A.S. Narayana Rao, Professor and Head of the Physics Department.
Williams spent countless hours in Dr. Rao's physics laboratory conducting
cutting-edge research in physics.
A high point of Williams' undergraduate years occurred during his sophomore
year when he spent one semester at the University of Wisconsin in Madison,
Wisconsin, as a participant in an exchange program. He took fifteen hours
of courses in mathematics, chemistry and physics during that semester and
received a perfect 4.0 grade point average. Having attended a segregated
high school and a predominantly black university, Williams gained confidence
from this experience that he could compete with any students. Moreover
the bitterly cold winter in Wisconsin was a different experience in itself
because he was accustomed to mild Texas winters. Williams received his
bachelor's degree with a major in mathematics and a minor in physics from
Texas Southern in 1969.
After completing his undergraduate work, Williams was drafted into
the United States Army. He began his graduate studies at the University
of Michigan in 1971 after spending two years in the army. He received a
master's degree from Michigan in 1972 and a Ph.D. in 1976, both in mathematics.
At Michigan, Williams wrote his Ph.D. dissertation in the area of operator
theory under the direction of Dr. Carl M. Pearcy.
Williams accepted his first position as an assistant professor of mathematics
at the University of Texas at Austin. He later relocated to the University
of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) where he progressed through the ranks from
assistant to associate to full professor. Williams has spent most of his
tenure at UTSA serving in administrative positions. He never sought administrative
positions but circumstances have led him to some challenging experiences
as an administrator. In 1987, he was persuaded by the dean to serve as
the Associate Dean for the College of Sciences and Engineering. He is still
serving the college in the capacity of Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.
In 1996, Williams was asked by the university's higher administration to
serve as acting director of the Division of Mathematics and Statistics.
Although there was a serious breach between the faculty of the division
and the university administrators, Williams accepted the challenge. Under
his leadership, the division settled down and is back to concentrating
on its main functions of teaching students and conducting research. In
fact, the division is flourishing. As a result, some faculty members have
been recognized internationally for their research and others have received
university-wide teaching and research awards.
Williams has insisted on teaching at least one class per semester even
while serving in two administrative positions. He continues to pursue his
research interests and has published eleven articles in the area of operator
theory in refereed journals. His work has been cited extensively by many
leading researchers in the field.
In addition to his role as teacher, administrator, and researcher, Williams
has worked with students by serving as the university's program coordinator
for the NASA Undergraduate Scholar Awards for Research (USAR) Program [formerly
the NASA Undergraduate Student Researchers Program ((USRP)]. Serving in
this role has been a very rewarding experience for him. In this program
he has guided many majors to their degrees in science, engineering, and
mathematics with programs to get them interested in research and in pursuing
graduate study. All of the students have been minority students including
American Indians, Hispanics, and African Americans. It has been rewarding
working with and mentoring these exceptional students who are at first
intimidated about the thought of conducting research and attending graduate
school. At the end of their tenure at the university, almost all of these
students are excited about research and eager to pursue graduate or professional
studies. Working with these and all students makes his career as a mathematician
most rewarding. He feels lucky because he cannot think of another profession
that he would rather pursue. He would do the same things professionally
if he had a chance to do everything all over again.
[Authored by Dr. Williams]