Talithia Williams
Talithia D. Williams is an American Statistician. She also serves as a Mathematician Professor and Mathematics Clinic Director at Harvey Mudd College, who researches the spatiotemporal structure of data. Williams was the first African American Woman to achieve tenure at Harvey Mudd College. She is an advocate for engaging more African Americans in engineering and science fields.
Biography
Talithia D. Williams was born in Columbus, Georgia. She attended Columbus High School where her appreciation for mathematical sciences was cultivated. She voluntarily competed in competitive math exams, where she was among the students who was advanced to the next round.Williams is married to Donald Williams and they have three sons together.
Education
Williams attended Spelman College to obtain her bachelor's degree of science with a major in mathematics and a minor in physics. Through the mentorship of the late Claudia Alexander, Williams participated in NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory for three summer sessions while in undergrad. She then went on to obtain her graduate degree in mathematics at Howard University. Williams was a mentee in the 4-week residential EDGE program, which is a mentorship organization that prepares people of color to gain their Ph.D. in the mathematics field.Then Williams attended Rice University, where she gained a Ph.D. in Statistics.Career and Research
Williams has worked at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the National Security Agency, and NASA. She is an associate professor of mathematics and also serves as Associate Dean for Research and Experiential Learning at Harvey Mudd College. She is Secretary and Treasurer for the EDGE Foundation which sponsors summer programs for minority women, and on the boards of the MAA and SACNAS. Williams has done significant outreach, with the goal of bringing mathematics to life and "rebranding the field of mathematics as anything but dry, technical or male-dominated but instead a logical, productive career path that is crucial to the future of the country."Williams has developed statistical models focused on understanding the structure of spatiotemporal data, with environmental applications. She has partnered with the World Health Organization in developing a cataract model used to predict the cataract surgical rate for countries in Africa.
Williams was a host of two PBS series; Six-part NOVA Wonders in April 2018, and five-part NOVA Universe Revealed in November 2021. She is the author of the book Power in Numbers: The Rebel Women of Mathematics.