Floyd L. Williams
- Ethnicity: African American
- Gender: M
University of Massachusetts
Amherst, MA
williams@math.umass.edu
Education
- PhD Institution: Washington University
- BS Institution: Lincoln University
Biography
Dr. Floyd Williams was raised in extreme poverty in Kansas City, Missouri.
His mother told him not to complain about their situation but to have faith
in God and work hard. Her advice worked. Williams is now a professor
of mathematics at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
However, it was music, not mathematics, that appealed to him through
high school. "In fact," he admits, "mathematics was the only in course
in which I did not do well." Williams had not thought of going to college
until his last week in high school when he was offered a music scholarship
at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri.
"In my sophomore year, I became intrigued with the theory of relativity,"
he recalls. "I can not explain why, but I was drawn to trying to understand
it. This was my main motivation for starting to study mathematics." Williams
graduated from Lincoln with a major in mathematics, and semi-majors in
physics and music. He went on to earn a Ph.D at Washington University
in St. Louis.
His thesis was in the field of Lie Theory, advanced mathematics that
deals with symmetry, and he has continued to work in that area for the
past 20 years, with a current emphasis on mathematical Physics.*
He received and MRI grant in 1983 to continue his research in this field.
"Getting the award boosted my confidence and ushered me into the mainstream
of mathematics," he comments. "I has participated in sponsored research
before, but I had never been a principal investigator. The results
of the work done with the MRI award enabled me to compete successfully
for the mainstream grants which I have had ever since."
Williams has felt the sting of discrimination during his career, but
he also had been soothed by supportive teachers and colleagues. He
believed that he has an obligation as a role model for helping young minorities
enter science and engineering. "Many kids today see only athletes and entertainers
as examples of success," he notes. Dr. Williams has helped to set
up programs that allow precollege students and undergraduates to meet and
talk with mathematicians, scientists and engineers. "All that many
of these youngsters see is different courses," he says, "but they want
to know what mathematicians do from 8 am to 5 pm. Once minorities
commit to graduate work in science or engineering," he continues, "they
need extra help and support for what, for many, is the foreign environment
of graduate school. Such programs exist at few universities, but we need
more of them."
*This article was amended from the original at the request of
Dr. Floyd Williams.
[Source: National Science Foundation, "Models of Excellence," (NSF
90-28), Washington, DC, 1990.]