Michelle Ann Williams is a Jamaican-American epidemiologist, public health scientist, and educator who has served as the dean of the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health since 2016.
Early life Williams was born on January 1, 1962, and is the eldest of four children. When she was seven years old, her family immigrated to Queens, New York, where she attended New York City public schools.
While neither of her parents attended school past the elementary level, Williams encountered a “handful of remarkable and pivotal teachers” who encouraged her to apply to top colleges and universities.
Williams became the first person in her family to attend college when she received her Bachelor of Arts in biology from Princeton University in 1984. She went on to earn a Master of Science in civil engineering two years later from Tufts University. She received two degrees from Harvard University, a Masters of Science with a concentration in demography and epidemiology in 1988, and a Doctor of Science degree in epidemiology in 1991."Michelle Williams faculty profile". Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
Career After a postdoctoral research fellowship at the University of Washington School of Public Health, she joined the University of Washington faculty as an assistant professor of epidemiology in 1992. She went on to become an associate professor in 1996 and a professor in 2000.
Williams' scientific research focuses on reproductive health, pediatrics, and epidemiology. During her tenure in Washington, she was highly involved in the Center for Perinatal Studies, ultimately serving as co-director from 2000 to 2011. She simultaneously held appointments at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and in global health at the University of Washington.“Michelle A. William’s Faculty Website”. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Retrieved July 13, 2022. Williams' scientific research focuses on reproductive health, pediatrics, and epidemiology. During her tenure in Washington, she was highly involved in the Center for Perinatal Studies, ultimately serving as co-director from 2000 to 2011. She simultaneously held appointments at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and in global health at the University of Washington.“Michelle A. William’s Faculty Website”. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Retrieved July 13, 2022.
Williams returned to Harvard in 2011, becoming the first Stephen B. Kay Family Professor of Public Health and chair of the Department of Epidemiology."Kay Professorship attracts leader in maternal and infant health". Harvard Public Health. Winter 2012. Retrieved February 27, 2016. She also served as faculty director of the Harvard Catalyst Population Health Research Program and the Health Disparities Research Program.
Williams served as the Dean of the Faculty, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health from June 2016 to December 2024 where she led the School of Public health during the COVID-19 pandemic. After leaving Harvard in 2024, she became a Professor of Epidemiology and Population Health and Associate Chair for Academic Affairs in the Department of Epidemiology and Population Health at Stanford University, School of Medicine.
Leadership at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health In August 2015, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health dean Julio Frenk left to become president of the University of Miami, and Williams was appointed as Frenk's successor as dean."Frenk named new president of University of Miami". Harvard Gazette. Harvard University. April 13, 2015. Retrieved July 21, 2016. When announcing her appointment, then-Harvard President Drew Faust called Williams a "skilled builder of bridges — between the theoretical and the practical, the domestic and the international.""Harvard Names Michelle A. Williams Its First Black Faculty Dean”. Boston magazine. February 19, 2016. Retrieved July 13, 2022. She was the first Black woman to lead a Harvard school.“Public Health’s Past and Future,” Harvard Magazine, November–December 2017, Retrieved July 12, 2022
As Harvard Chan dean, Williams has prioritized research and engagement with policy makers around pandemic response and preparedness, climate change, and systemic racism. She has also focused on supporting cross-disciplinary research, building global coalitions and empowering nursing leadership. In addition, she has worked to increase institutional support for junior faculty.
Williams has also recruited high-profile faculty to the school, including Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett, who helped lead the groundbreaking research that led to Moderna’s mRNA COVID-19 vaccine.“Leading coronavirus scientist, Kizzmekia S. Corbett, to join Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health to continue vaccine development research.” Harvard Chan Press Release. May 11, 2021. Retrieved Sept. 6, 2022. Corbett joined the school as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases.
On campus, Williams has been “deeply attuned to the larger issue of school culture,” which among other initiatives, has meant a renewed commitment to campus diversity and inclusion.“End-of-Year Report to the Harvard Chan School Community”. Office of the Dean. Spring 2017. Retrieved July 13, 2022. She hired Lilu Barbosa as the school’s first Chief Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging Officer in June 2020 with a mandate to improve training, discussion, and support for diversity and inclusion across the campus.Office of Diversity and Inclusion Website. Retrieved July 13, 2022.
Williams has been outspoken on issues of race and equity. She declared racism a public health crisis in 2020“Racism is a public health crisis: Harvard public health dean releases statement on death of George Floyd.” Boston.com. June 2, 2020. Retrieved July 13, 2022 and has written numerous op-eds explaining how structural racism contributes to health disparities and poor health outcomes for many communities of color in the U.S.
Another notable effort launched by Williams is the Apple Women’s Health Study, a collaboration between the Harvard Chan School, Apple, and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.“Apple Women’s Health Study” website. Retrieved Sept. 6, 2022. The research draws upon data from more than 10,000 volunteers who agree to track their menstrual cycles on their iPhone or Apple Watch and respond to regular surveys.“Apple Women’s Health Study releases preliminary data to help destigmatize menstrual symptoms,” Apple press release, March 9, 2021. Retrieved Sept. 6, 2022. The study has led to several publications, including a study showing that women were less likely to try to conceive during the first year of COVID pandemic.
Also under Williams' leadership, the school co-launched HealthLab, an accelerator for student-led ventures that seek to improve public and planetary health, as part of the school’s commitment to social impact.“The HealthLab” website. Retrieved Sept. 6, 2022.
Williams was appointed to a second five-year term as dean in 2021.
In November 2022, Williams announced she would step down as dean at the end of the 2022-23 academic year.. Retrieved Nov. 10, 2022.
Global coalitions In 2021, Williams announced a partnership between the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a newly established school in Beijing, the Vanke School of Public Health at Tsinghua University.“Harvard's public health school forms partnership with Chinese university to tackle global threats”. The Boston Globe, December 1, 2021. Retrieved Sept. 6, 2022. In addition to allowing Vanke students to take courses at Harvard, the program will allow professors and students from both universities to develop joint, cross-national research projects.
Williams, who also serves on the Vanke School’s international advisory board, believes “the solutions for the biggest threats to global population health today won't come from any one institution or one continent.” In addition, Williams, along with former director-general of the World Health Organization Margaret Chan, founded a Global Coalition of Deans of Schools of Public Health to work on issues of global health security.
Under Williams’ leadership, the school has also been involved in the Partnership for Central America, a public-private-academic partnership mobilizing investment to improve the quality of life for residents of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, with a goal of curbing irregular migration to the U.S.Partnership for Central America website, Retrieved July 13, 2022
Global Nursing Leadership Program In April 2021, Williams oversaw the launch of the Harvard Global Nursing Leadership program, a partnership between three Harvard graduate schools — Harvard Chan School, Harvard Kennedy School, and Harvard Graduate School of Education — and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and the African Union to identify and train executive-level nurses and midwives to “improve population health and generate key regulatory reforms.”“Certificate in Global Public Health for Nurse Leaders”. Global Nursing Leadership Program. Retrieved July 13, 2022.
In summer 2022, the program enrolled its first African cohort,Harvard Global Nursing Leadership Website, retrieved July 13, 2022 with plans to expand to Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, and North America in the following years.
COVID response During the COVID pandemic, Williams co-founded the COVID Collaborative, a diverse team of experts in health, education, and the economy.COVID Collaborative website, retrieved July 13, 2022 They issued numerous high-profile recommendations on the public health response to the pandemic and drafted policy briefs on topics including supporting children orphaned by COVID and improving virtual education.
Williams was highly active in advocating for the U.S. to lead the charge in vaccinating the world, including by transferring technology to developing nations in the Global South to enable them to produce vaccines.“Biden has failed to defeat COVID-19 as promised. Here’s how he must shift his strategy”. Washington Post, January 24, 2022, retrieved Sept. 6, 2022
She also raised an early, urgent alarm about the public health impact of Long COVID in an article she co-wrote in the New England Journal of Medicine with Dr. Steven Phillips in August 2021.
Also during the pandemic, Williams joined Arianna Huffington, founder of Thrive Global, and Natalie Tran, the Executive Director of the CAA Foundation, in founding #FirstRespondersFirst, a collaboration to provide frontline healthcare workers with support and advocate for increased attention to employee mental health and well-being.“Transcript: Coronavirus: Helping First Responders”. The Washington Post, June 26, 2020. Retrieved July 13, 2022.
In a June 2020 interview with The Washington Post, Williams argued that it was “incumbent on us to help frontline health workers recognize the very fundamental aspects of what it's going to take for them to be able to build the resilience to continue to do the thing that they have trained all their lives to do, and that is, care for others.”
Harvard Crimson controversy In December 2019, Harvard faculty members at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health met without Williams to consider a "no confidence" vote on her leadership as the School's dean, citing concerns revealed in the annual Faculty Priority Survey related to insufficient faculty governance and poor communication by Williams that played a role in the departure of 14 faculty from the school over two years."Citing toxic culture and administrator departures, Harvard School of Public Health faculty repeatedly weighed voting no confidence in dean," The Harvard Crimson, January 13, 2020.