Dr. Rochelle Williams

Rochelle L. Williams, Ph.D., is the project director for the ADVANCE Resource Coordination (ARC) Network with the Association for Women in Science (AWIS). The ARC Network has a primary focus on organizational and institutional systemic change from both the research and practical perspectives and aims to share and translate tools needed for change, remove barriers to resources, reduce duplication of equity and systemic change efforts, and curate, recover, and synthesize the body of knowledge on systemic change.

Before joining AWIS, Rochelle served as a research scientist in the Office for Academic Affairs at Prairie View A&M University. In this role, she worked directly with the provost on research projects centered on the advancement of women faculty in STEM and the continuous quality improvement of student learning. From 2011 to 2016, Rochelle also worked as the director of programs and research at ABET headquarters in Baltimore, Md. She was responsible for leading the creation and facilitation of educational offerings for science and engineering faculty around the world.

Because of her extensive work in program assessment and evaluation, she has served as an invited speaker at several international conferences including the World Engineering Education Forum in Dubai, UAE, and assessment workshops in France and Colombia. In 2016, Rochelle was selected to be a Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Fellow with the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine in Washington, D.C. As a fellow, she worked with the Committee on Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine to drive policy that mitigates the sexual harassment of women faculty in STEM departments in academia.

Since 2012, Rochelle has worked as a subject-matter expert for the National Science Foundation on issues about cultures of inclusion, broadening participation, and university education programs. In 2013, Baltimore Magazine recognized her as one of the city’s Top 40 under 40 and in 2014, Baltimore Sun Magazine recognized her as one of 40 Women to Watch. Most recently, she received the 2017 Woman of Excellence Award from the National Alumnae Association of Spelman College–Baton Rouge Chapter for her work to promote STEM education to young girls in the city.

Currently, Rochelle serves as the incoming chair of the Minorities in Engineering Division for the American Society for Engineering Education, is an active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, and is an adjunct instructor in the Whitlowe R. Green College of Education at Prairie View A&M University. Rochelle received her Bachelor of Science in physics from Spelman College and both her Master of Engineering in mechanical engineering and Ph.D. in science and mathematics education from Southern University and A&M College.