LaNell Williams
APS Board Member LaNell Williams is a PhD candidate at Harvard University and the executive director and founder of Women+ of Color Project.
LaNell Williams serves as a member of the APS Board of Directors as well as on the Forum on Graduate Student Affairs. In addition to being a PhD candidate at Harvard University, where she studies soft condensed matter physics and biophysics with a focus on understanding the self assembly of RNA viruses, in particular the bacteriophage MS2, she is also the executive director and founder of the Women+ of Color Project. Through the Women+ of Color Project, she hopes to encourage more Black, indigenous and women of color to pursue academic careers. Additionally, she is an active member of the National Society of Black Physicists (NSBP).
Williams earned her bachelor's degree in physics from Wesleyan University and her master's in physics from Fisk University. She has been honored with numerous awards, including most recently the 2020 David J. Robbins Prize and the 2019 Agents of Change Award from Elsivier Materials Science Today.