John E. Williams
Director of Student Affairs, Sustainability Management and Sustainability Science; Advisor for the Columbia HBCU Fellowship
John E. Williams is an urban historian, geographer, professor, and higher education professional based in Harlem with foundations rooted deep in the South. His work spans the higher education spectrum, ranging from historical and geographical research and teaching to academic/student support services and administration. He has also worked with the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation and the Atlanta Community Mapping and Research Center at Georgia State University. In 2015, he received GSU's International Education Fellowship and studied abroad at Hong Kong Baptist University in the Transnational Urban Futures research program in Urban Geography.
John serves on the social and behavioral sciences faculty at Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York (CUNY). Previously, he served as an administration and planning fellow in Undergraduate Student Life at Columbia College/Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS); assistant professor of history and geography at Albany State University in Albany, GA; weather and climate lab instructor at Georgia State University (GSU), instructor of history at Clark Atlanta University, and student support services coordinator at Florida A&M University. His forthcoming book project, tentatively titled "Transcending Barriers: Race, Mobility, & Transportation Planning in Atlanta," garnered the Dan Sweat Fellowship Award in Urban Planning, Public Policy, and Economic Development.
He received his M.S. in geosciences (urban geography) and Ph.D. in history at Georgia State University; and Master's in history and B.S. in agribusiness at Florida A&M University (FAMU). He is also a graduate of the M.A. in Higher and Postsecondary Education (HPSE) program at Teachers College, Columbia University.