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PRESIDENT, HAMPTON UNIVERSITY, HAMPTON
PRESIDENT, HAMPTON UNIVERSITY, HAMPTON
Virginia Business// August 29, 2022//
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An alumnus of the private historically Black university, Williams returned to Hampton in July to succeed William R. Harvey. One of the nation’s longest-serving college presidents, Harvey retired in
June after 44 years leading Hampton.
A retired lieutenant general in the Army, Williams graduated in 1983 along with his wife, Myra, and went on to a career in the military and defense industry, retiring in 2020. He was the first African American director of the Department of Defense’s Defense Logistics Agency, and he was most recently vice president for Leidos Holdings Inc.’s U.K. operations. A Florida native, Williams earned master’s degrees from Penn State, the Army Combined and General Staff College and the National War College.
Appointed by Hampton’s board of trustees, Williams leads an institution founded in 1868 that offers more than 90 degree programs, including 12 doctoral degrees. In 2020, Hampton received its largest donation, $30 million from billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, ex-wife of Amazon.com Inc. founder and Executive Chairman Jeff Bezos.
