John A. Williams III received his Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction, emphasizing Urban Education, from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 2019. Born and raised in East St. Louis, IL, Dr. Williams has a distinct focus on establishing affirming practices, policies, and procedures to eradicate exclusionary school disciplinary measures for Black children. This focus stems from his professional experiences working in non-profit organizations and serving as a program coordinator for the St. Louis Detention Center in the past. With an impressive track record of over 50 publications, Dr. Williams’s work appears in renowned outlets such as the Journal of Urban Education, Teaching and Teacher Education, Journal of Teacher Education, Urban Review, and the Journal of Higher Education. Dr. Williams has been a PI/Co-PI on projects funded by the National Science Foundation, the Spencer Foundation, and the National Institute of Mental Health. Finally, Dr. Williams is the Director and Founder of the Urban Lab for Transformative Research and Assessment (ULTRA), an innovative and transformative collective of emerging scholars who support and cultivate research investigating solutions to effectively support students, educators, and communities in urban environments.
John A. Williams III received his Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction, emphasizing Urban Education, from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 2019. Born and raised in East St. Louis, IL, Dr. Williams has a distinct focus on establishing affirming practices, policies, and procedures to eradicate exclusionary school disciplinary measures for Black children.