Charles M. Williams (academic)

Charles M. Williams
Harvard Business School faculty portrait of Charles M. Williams, 1970s.
Born	(1917-04-20)April 20, 1917 Romney, West Virginia, United States
Died	November 17, 2011(2011-11-17) (aged 94) Needham, Massachusetts, United States
Alma mater	Washington and Lee University (B.A.) Harvard Business School (M.B.A. and D.C.S.)
Occupation	Professor of finance and banking at Harvard Business School
Years active	1947–2011
Known for	Edmund Cogswell Converse Professor of Finance and Banking (1960–1966)
Spouse(s)	Mary Elizabeth "Betty" Huffman Williams
Children	Holland Williams Andrea Williams
Military career
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Navy
Years of service	1941–1947
Rank	Lieutenant commander
Unit	Navy Supply Corps Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps
Battles/wars	World War II (Pacific Ocean theater) Battle of the Coral Sea

Charles Marvin Williams (April 20, 1917 – November 17, 2011) was an American finance professor at Harvard Business School. He was a recognized authority on commercial banking who taught his students using the case method.

Born in Romney, West Virginia in 1917, Williams earned his bachelor's degree from Washington and Lee University and his master's degree from Harvard Business School. He served in the United States Navy during World War II, joining the faculty of Harvard Business School in 1947 and becoming a tenured professor in 1956. He retired from the school's faculty in 1986, concluding a four-decade teaching career.

Over the course of his academic career, Williams authored and co-authored hundreds of business cases, numerous articles, and several books. He also served as a consultant to a number of private institutions and received several awards and accolades for his work.

Williams was born on April 20, 1917, near Romney, West Virginia. He was the second child and son of William Marvin Williams and Lula Taylor Williams. He had an older brother, Manning Holland Williams, and a younger sister, Lenora Ellen Williams. The family farm where Williams grew up had been granted to his great-great-grandfather in recognition of his service during the American Revolutionary War. Williams' father was a local banker, eventually rising to the position of President of the First National Bank of Romney. William gave his son his first lessons in banking. According to Williams, his father taught him "respect for the fundamentals: know your customers and work with them".

During high school, Williams played several sports competitively. He attended Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and economics in 1937. He served as the vice-president of his senior class and was a member of the Kappa Alpha Order. Like his older brother, Manning Holland Williams, he earned his degree after three years and was admitted to Phi Beta Kappa. At the age of 19, Williams enrolled at Harvard Business School, receiving his Master of Business Administration degree two years later. Following his graduation from Harvard Business School, Williams worked in the loan department at Manufacturers Trust Company in New York City for two years. Williams traveled to Europe, in 1937 and 1939, visiting Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia. Prior to this experience, Williams was an avowed pacifist, but after visiting Nazi Germany he felt obligated to enlist in the United States Navy.