Ellen D. Williams (chemist)
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Ellen Williams ForMemRS |
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Elen Williams at the Royal Society admissions day in London in 2016
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| Born | December 5, 1953 |
| Awards | National Academy of Sciences |
| Scientific career | |
| Thesis | Studies of chemical adsorption using low energy electron diffraction (1982) |
| Doctoral advisor | William Henry Weinberg |
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Website arpa-e |
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Ellen D. Williams (born December 5, 1953 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin) is an American scientist, best known for her research in surface properties and nanotechnology, for her engagement with technical issues in national security, as chief scientist of BP, and for government service as director of ARPA-E.
Born in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Williams grew up in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan.,. She attended Michigan State University and received her B.S. in chemistry in 1976. Her graduate studies were at Caltech, where she received her Ph.D. in Chemistry in 1981, under the supervision of William Henry Weinberg.
Williams did postdoctoral studies at the University of Maryland under the supervision of R.L. Park from 1981 to 1983. Then promoted to assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, which is part of the University of Maryland College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences, she advanced to associate professor in 1987, and professor of Physics and the Institute for Physical Science and Technology in 1991. Building on her fundamental work on the morphology of solid surfaces, she founded the University of Maryland Materials Research Group in 1991 and led its expansion to become the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center in 1996. She served as its Director from 1996 through 2009. In 2000 she was named Distinguished University Professor. She was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2003, and to the National Academy of Sciences in 2005. She served as the Chair of the NAS committee on Technical Issues Concerning the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty from 2009-11.
In 2010, Williams took a leave of absence from UMD to become chief scientist at BP, a position which she held until April 2014. Then, having been nominated by President Barack Obama in November 2013 to become director of ARPA-E and awaiting Senate confirmation, she became a senior adviser in the office of the Secretary of Energy. She was confirmed on December 8, 2014, and subsequently sworn into her position at ARPA-E.
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