Gregory H Williams

Early life and education

Williams grew up in Gum Spring, Virginia, until his parents separated, and his father lost his business. At the age of ten years old, Williams and his brother moved to Muncie, Indiana where his father had family, and he first became aware of his father’s African American heritage. Despite a period of confusion about his own identity, Williams embraced his father’s passion for education.

Williams is a highly accomplished academic who holds five degrees. He earned a bachelor of arts degree from Ball State University in 1966, where he paid tuition by earning money as a deputy sheriff in the Delaware County Sheriff’s Department in Muncie, Indiana, from 1963 to 1966, oftentimes working as much as 40-hours a week. Between 1966 and 1970, Williams taught classes in Virginia state government and history George Mason Junior – Senior High School in Falls Church, Virginia. In 1969, he earned a master's degree in government and politics from University of Maryland. Williams earned a J.D. from George Washington University in 1971. From 1971 to 1973, Williams was a legislative assistant to Senator Vance Hartke (D-Indiana) of the United States Senate, Washington, D.C.. In 1977, Williams earned a master's degree in political science, and in 1982, a doctorate in political science, both from George Washington University. He also earned an MBA from Mercy College (New York).

Career

Williams joined the University of Iowa Law faculty in 1977, where he taught criminal law, criminal procedure, and legislation. Williams was faculty scholar from 1990 to 1993. At Iowa, Williams served as Associate Dean of the Law School, from 1977 to 1993, where he oversaw admissions, financial aid, student and faculty recruitment, and student support, and he served as Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs from 1991-93.

From 1975 to 1977, Williams consulted to the Foreign Lawyer Training Program in Washington, DC. He was a member of the Iowa State Advisory Commission to the United States Civil Rights Commission from 1978 to 1988, and a member of the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy Council from 1979 to 1985.

Williams was appointed visiting professor on faculty of law at Durham University, Durham, England, from 1984 to 1986, and visiting scholar at Selwyn College at Cambridge University, Cambridge, England, from 1986 to 1987.

From 1991 to 1993, Williams held the position of Associate Vice-President for Academic Affairs at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa. From 1993 to 2001, Williams held the positions of Carter Kissell Professor of Law and Dean of the Michael E. Moritz College of Law at Ohio State University. As Dean, Williams grew size of the faculty by 40-percent, doubled the named chairs and professorships, and raised $25 million from alumni of approximately 7,000 graduates. In 2001, Williams presided over an historic 30-million dollars from alumni Michael E. Moritz, a partner at the law firm of Baker and Hostettler.

College presidencies

In 2001, Williams was appointed to the position of the 11th President of the City College of New York - the flagship campus of the City University of New York system. His appointment followed his tenure as a law school dean at Ohio State from 1993, where Williams taught courses in criminal law, and he raised $25 million and hoversaw the increase of the school's endowment by about 50-ppercent. During his tenure as dean of the law school at Ohio State, Williams also served as the president of the Association of American Law Schools, and his autobiographical book, Life on the Color Line: The True Story of a White Boy Who Discovered He Was Black, (Dutton, 1995) won the 1995 Los Angeles Times Book Award. Prior, the City University of New York Trustees pressured former College president Yolanda T. Moses to resign in 1999. Thereafter, Stanford A. Roman Jr., dean of CUNY's Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education, served as interim president of City College, to begin to redirect the campus.

Under his presidency of the City College of New York Williams achieved a decade of growth. Enrollment increased by 60 percent and academic standards improved significantly; nearly 90 percent of the student body continue to represent racial minority groups. Williams successfully oversaw the first capital campaign at City College, raising more than $230 million and effectively establishing a culture of philanthropy, and more than double City College's research funding.

During his tenure as president of the City College of New York, Williams served as Chair of the Commission on Access, diversity, and Excellence (CADE) of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. Williams moderated and presented at the 2001 Association of American Law Schools annual meeting. Upon his departure, Williams left behind a City University of New York campus in Harlem, New York, where more than one-third of the students are Hispanic, and nearly 30-percent are African or African American, and half are born outside of the United States of America. In total, ninety languages are spoken on campus.

Williams began his tenure as president of the University of Cincinnati on November 1, 2009. During William's first year in the office of president, he launched a strategic plan, UC2019 - Accelerating Our Transformation, which took its name from the university's upcoming bicentennial year. During his presidency at the University of Cincinnati, enrollment reached an historic level; the university established a new health system. In 2012, Williams resign from the position of president, citing personal reasons. That same year, Williams chaired the search for a new commissioner of the Big East Conference.

Professional recognition

Williams has been recognized for his contributions in scholarship, academic leadership, and fundraising. In 1998, President Bill Clinton invited Williams to join the United States President's Call to Action to promote diversity and pro bono legal services. The following year, Williams was selected by the National Association of Public Interest Law (NAPIL) as Dean of the Year. That same year, the National Bar Association awarded Williams the A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr. Award for Contributions to the Preservation of Human and Civil Rights.

Notably, he received the National Bar Association’s A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr. Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Preservation of Human and Civil Rights (1999); Governor’s Tribute to African-American Leaders of Excellence in State Service (2004) from New York Governor George Pataki; Austrian Decoration for Science and Art in the Division of for Science and Art, Vienna, Austria (2006); Proclamation of Dr. Gregory Howard Williams Day and Honorary Mayor-President by Mayor Kip Holden of Baton Rouge, Louisiana (2006); Key to the City from Mayor Daniel Canan of Muncie, Indiana (2006); Langston Hughes Award from The City College of New York for contributions to the Arts and Letters (2009); Bridges for a Just Community Distinguished Service Citation (2012); and George Washington University Law School Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award (2015). Williams is also honored by the Gregory H. Williams Chair in Civil Rights & Civil Liberties of the Moritz College of Law at Ohio State University.

Williams also received honorary doctorate degrees from the California Western School of Law (1997), Ball State University (1999), College of Wooster (2000), New York Law School (2009), Skidmore College (2010), and Columbia University (2016).

Corporate and public boards

Publications

Williams published autobiography, Life on the Color Line: The True Story of a White Boy Who Discovered He Was Black - was awarded the 1995 Los Angeles Times Book of the Year. The term the color line, a reference to racial segregation, was famously used in an article "The Color Line" by Frederick Douglass, published in the North American Review(NAR) in 1881, and repeated by W. E. B. Du Bois, in his book The Souls of Black Folk, in 1903.

Williams' own account is a reflection on his life growing up as the son of a white mother and a father who passed for white and identified himself as Italian American. At age 10-years-old, Williams moved from his home in Virginia to Indiana, where he learned his father was African-American.

Williams' book Life on the Color Line is considered an exemplary work of contemporary literature. Williams has been a featured author on Dateline NBC, Larry King Live, The Oprah Winfrey Show, Nightline, NPR, and public lectures. His book has been cited in academic journals and syllabus.

For Life on the Color Line, Williams was awarded the Outstanding Book on the Subject of Human Rights in North America by the Gustavus Myers Center for Human Rights.

Books

Articles and other contributory publications

Video

Personal

Born Gregory Howard Williamson on November 12, 1943, in Muncie, Indiana; the son of James Anthony, a businessman, and Mary, a homemaker, Williams married Sara Catherine Whitney, (born August 29, 1969) Their children are Natalia Dora, Zachary Benjamin, Anthony Bîadîmir, Carlos Gregory.