Dr. Jimmy Williams, Jr. '83
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Year Awarded: 2022

Wexford, PA

To Dr. Jimmy Williams, Jr. ’83, Texas A&M means family. He said, “Family shapes your values, helps you to maintain your humility. They challenge you to be your best, they protect you in the most fierce manner, they honor and applaud your growth, they deeply care.”

Williams knows what it means to contribute to a large family: He grew up the fourth child out of 10. He is a first-generation college graduate, and was the first in his family to study engineering. He joined the American Society of Mechanical Engineers as a student, and soon accomplished his goal of earning a mechanical engineering degree.

Williams returned to Missouri for his MBA, and stayed for a Ph.D. in engineering and public policy. During this time, Williams began a 20-year career with Boeing, eventually becoming director of research and development. Boeing honored Williams with its Black Engineer of the Year Award in 2001. Williams then moved to Alcoa, again with a focus in research and development, and later moved to Pall Corp., where he was made senior vice president of global engineering. Williams retired from industry in 2015, taking on a new role at Carnegie Mellon University as the executive director and distinguished service professor of the university’s Engineering and Technology Innovation Management Program.

In addition to his notable engineering career, Williams has also served on the boards of many organizations. In 2020, he co-chaired Texas A&M’s task force on diversity, equity and inclusion, with findings that directly impacted the university’s current initiatives. He became the first Black chair of the board of The Association of Former Students in 2018. He also served as president of the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation board and on the boards of Innovation Works, Tech-Solve Corp. and the Washington University Alumni Association.

Williams and his wife, Valerie, have two children and a granddaughter.

“He is not only an outstanding engineer but also an outstanding and compassionate leader and a great example of the Aggie core value of selfless service.”

  - Dr. John E. Hurtado '91