University of Missouri-Columbia
Dr. Damon A. Williams is the consummate scholar administrator. He currently serves as the assistant vice provost for multicultural and international affairs at the University of Connecticut and is a leader in the discussion of inclusive excellence, strategic planning for diversity, academic engagement, and organizational change in higher education. He is considered by many to be among the nation’s leading experts on building sustainable institutional diversity capabilities based upon his landmark research on Chief Diversity Officers and examination of the diversity planning and implementation processes at colleges and universities across the country.
As a member of the vice provost's senior leadership team, Dr. Williams has 6-figure budgetary responsibility for several programs and initiatives, and shares leadership in the implementation of an 8- figure divisional budget that includes the office of affirmative action and equity, gender and ethnic studies, cultural centers (Women’s, African American, Rainbow, Latino, and International), international affairs, and other areas spanning issues of race, gender, ethnicity, identity, sexual orientation, globalization, and other concepts within the evolving higher education diversity paradigm.
Dr. Williams provides strategic guidance to the vice provost and maintains several ongoing research projects to insure that the University of Connecticut activates national best practice diversity and inclusion strategies. Some campus responsibilities include the collaborative implementation of a 5-year board of trustee’s diversity action plan and the development of an institution-wide diversity planning and accountability process involving every academic dean and vice president.
Some highlights of Dr. Williams’ leadership include the development of an on-going campus climate assessment program, executive diversity training for senior leadership, the building of a general education diversity distribution requirement in collaboration with academic senate, establishing a campus-wide “Leadership Diversity Institute” for key student leaders, and marketing initiatives designed to reposition the university’s brand equity, both nationally and locally, with respect to diversity.
During his tenure at the University of Connecticut, Dr. Williams has raised more than $4 million in grant funded resources specifically focused towards increasing the recruitment and success of historically underrepresented, first generation students and women studying in the areas of science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM), and the health professions.
He currently serves as co-principal investigator for the Northeastern Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation project funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) at a level of $1.5 million across five institutions, and the NSF funded STEM preparatory grant project funded at $2 million with three Connecticut community colleges.
Prior to being recruited by the University of Connecticut, Dr. Williams worked full time as a program and research associate at the University of Michigan. In this capacity, he worked directly for the associate provost for academic affairs, and controlled a six-figure budget focused on implementing campuswide diversity education programs and initiatives for the entire campus community. He also engaged in research using data from the highly acclaimed longitudinal research project---The Michigan Study of Student Diversity. Data from this project were featured prominently in the University of Michigan’s Supreme Court defense case of 2001.
Having worked with over 100 institutions, including the University of Virginia, Miami University, UC Berkeley, University of Wisconsin, Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, Minnesota State System of Higher Education, Chestnut Hills College, Wells College, Towson University, University of 2 South Florida, and numerous others, Dr. Williams is a widely sought after thought leader, speaker, and consultant.
In recent years he has published articles on organizational change, executive diversity leadership, and strategic planning for diversity in publications such as About Campus, Planning for Higher Education, Effective Practices for Academic Leaders, Inside Higher Education, the New England Journal of Higher Education, NASPA Net Results, the College and University Human Resource Professionals (CUPA)-HR Journal, the Diversity Factor, and others. He is a founding member of the editorial board of the much anticipated Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, a joint publication of the American Psychological Association (APA), the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NADOHE), and the American Council of Education (ACE).
For the last three years, Dr. Williams has served as scholar in residence for the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AACU) Greater Expectations Leadership Development Institute. In this capacity he has worked with numerous institutions around issues of organizational change, academic engagement, diversity and inclusion, retention, and academic success. Additionally, he was also the lead author for a Ford Foundation funded monograph on the future of diversity work in higher education entitled, Towards a Model of Inclusive Excellence and Change in Higher Education. This very popular publication has been downloaded more than 50,000 times from the AACU website and is guiding the national conversation around inclusive excellence on college and university campuses.
Dr. Williams is co-principal investigator and lead researcher for the well regarded “Chief Diversity Officer Study in Higher Education.” This mixed methodology study has resulted in several national presentations and publications, and was recently featured at the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity (NCORE) and the American Council of Education (ACE). He is currently under contract with ACE for a new invited monograph, “Chief Diversity Officers in Higher Education: A Portrait of the Landscape,” which will be sent to over 2,700 college and university presidents in the fall of 2007. His new book, The Chief Diversity Officer: Strategy, Structure, and Change Management, is expected in the spring of 2008 from Stylus Publishing Press.
Dr. Williams received his PhD from the prestigious University of Michigan Center for the Study of Higher and Post-Secondary Education (CSHPE), where his focus was organizational behavior and management. He received both his master’s degree in college student personnel services and his bachelor’s degree in sociology/Black World Studies from Miami University.