Marsha Rhea Williams (born 1948) is an American educator and researcher, she is known for being the first

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

woman to earn a Ph.D. in

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

. She held many academic positions and was most recently a tenured professor at

Tennessee State University Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tennes ...

. Additionally, she advocates for greater minority representation in

STEM Stem or STEM most commonly refers to: * Plant stem, a structural axis of a vascular plant * Stem group * Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics Stem or STEM can also refer to: Language and writing * Word stem, part of a word respon ...

fields.

Early life and education

Williams was born on August 4, 1948, in

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Mem ...

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

, to parents James Edward Williams and Velma Lee Williams. In 1969, she earned her B.S. in

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

from

Beloit College Beloit College is a private liberal arts college in Beloit, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1846 when Wisconsin was still a territory, it is the state's oldest continuously operated college. It has an enrollment of roughly 1,000 undergradua ...

. Afterwards, in 1971, she earned her M.S. in physics from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

. After spending time in instructing positions, Williams arrived at

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

to begin her doctoral studies. In 1976, she earned her M.S. in systems and information science at Vanderbilt. Then, in 1982, she earned her Ph.D. in computer science. In accomplishing this, she became the first African American woman to earn a Ph.D. in computer science. For her Ph.D., she wrote her dissertation, “The Design of the Computer Assisted Query Language (CAQL) System,” which “examined the emerging field of user experience in querying large databases.”

Career

Williams has held faculty positions at the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (Epithet, byname Ole Miss) is a Public university, public research university in University, near Oxford, Mississippi, United States, with a University of Mississippi Medical Center, medical center in Jackson, Miss ...

Memphis State University The University of Memphis (Memphis) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 20,000 students. The university maintains the Herff Col ...

, and

Fisk University Fisk University is a Private university, private Historically black colleges and universities, historically black Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1866 and its campus i ...

. She has also worked for

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

and was an NSF fellow. She most recently was a tenured professor of computer science at Tennessee State University. Williams was among the first African American professors to hold teaching positions in engineering and computer science at both the University of Mississippi and Tennessee State University. She has published several academic articles and presented at conferences. Williams is a member of several professional organizations, including the

Association for Computing Machinery The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) is a US-based international learned society for computing. It was founded in 1947 and is the world's largest scientific and educational computing society. The ACM is a non-profit professional membe ...

, the

Association of Information Technology Professionals The Association of Information Technology Professionals (AITP) is a professional association that focuses on information technology education for business professionals. The group is a non-profit US-oriented group, but its activities are performe ...

, and the Tennessee Academy of Science. She served on the board of the AITP's Data Processing Management Association. In addition to her research and education roles, Williams advocates for diversity in computer science and engineering. Williams advised the National Society of Black Engineering Students and founded the Association for Excellence in Computer Science, Math, and Physics. She has also directed Tennessee State's Project MISET (Minorities in Science, Engineering, and Technology). Her biography appears in several

Who's Who A Who's Who (or Who Is Who) is a reference work consisting of biographical entries of notable people in a particular field. The oldest and best-known is the annual publication ''Who's Who (UK), Who's Who'', a reference work on contemporary promin ...

publications. In addition, popular publications list her alongside other notable computer scientists such as

Dorothy Vaughan Dorothy Jean Johnson Vaughan (September 20, 1910 – November 10, 2008) was an American mathematician and human computer who worked for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), and NASA, at Langley Research Center in Hampton, ...

and

Melba Roy Mouton Melba Roy Mouton (April 28, 1929 – June 25, 1990) was an African American mathematician who served as Assistant Chief of Research Programs at NASA's Trajectory and Geodynamics Division in the 1960s and headed a group of NASA mathematicians calle ...

Selected publications

* Williams, Marsha R. “The design of the computer assisted query language (caql) system.” Ph.D. Dissertation. 1982. Vanderbilt University, US. * Williams, Marsha R. “Engineering Management and Technical Solutions to Human Problems: A Computer-Related Example.” Engineering Management International, vol. 1, no. 3, 1982, pp. 227–237., doi:10.1016/0167-5419(82)90022-9. * Williams, Marsha R. “Information Technology Resources for Education in Developing Countries.” Capacity Building for IT in Education in Developing Countries, 1998, pp. 251–260., doi:10.1007/978-0-387-35195-7_27.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Marsha Rhea Beloit College alumni University of Michigan College of Engineering alumni Vanderbilt University alumni American women computer scientists American computer scientists American women academics 1948 births Living people