COAS Faculty Spotlight

Dr. Quinton L. Williams 

As Professor and Chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy, Quinton L. Williams, has been strengthening the department’s academic and research programs since joining Howard in 2014. Prior to joining Howard, Dr. Williams served as Chair of the Department of Physics, Atmospheric Sciences and Geoscience at Jackson State University. Before coming to academia, he worked in industry at Lucent Technologies – Bell Laboratories in fiber optics and co-founded a venture capital backed photonics company in Atlanta. He has published over 40 research articles and a book chapter. At Howard, his research is focused on renewable energy; specifically, Li-ion batteries and advanced carbon nanomaterials. As part of his life-long mission to educate, mentor and train underrepresented minority students in physics, Dr. Williams has produced five Ph.D. graduates in physics, supervised two Master’s degrees and mentored well over thirty undergraduates and postdocs over his career. Dr. Williams is a Past-President and Fellow of the National Society of Black Physicists (NSBP). He received his Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in physics from the Georgia Institute of Technology and his B.S. degree in physics from Jackson State University. 

In March 2022, Dr. Williams received an Excellence in Physics Education Award from the American Physical Society (APS). In April 2022, he led the Department of Physics and Astronomy to receive the APS Award for Improving Undergraduate Physics Education for 2022 – 2024 making Howard the first HBCU to receive this distinction of program excellence. Over his career, he has served on major national taskforces which have delivered seminal reports for increasing diversity in physics. 

In Nov. 2022, Dr. Williams accompanied a group of Howard University students to the NSBP Annual Conference in Charlottesville, VA. Students presented scientific research and networked with other students and professionals in physics to encourage them to reach their highest potential.