Aaron S. Williams

Aaron S. Williams is an international development expert and a former diplomat. He served as the 18th Director of the Peace Corps from 2009 to 2012 under President Barack Obama.

Williams grew up in Chicago where he graduated from Chicago State University and became a teacher. He volunteered for the Peace Corps for three years, working in the Dominican Republic to support teacher training projects. Afterwards, Williams served in the U.S. Agency for International Development (US AID) for 22 years. Before and after his term as Director of the Peace Corps, Williams worked for RTI International.

Williams announced August 21, 2012 that he was leaving his post after three years, citing personal and family considerations in his letter of resignation to President Barack Obama.

Early life and education Aaron Williams grew up in a family of modest means in South Side, Chicago. There, he attended Chicago State University, He later earned an MBA from the University of Wisconsin - Madison. He decided to volunteer for the Peace Corps after hearing speeches by President Kennedy and Sargent Shriver, and then talking to a fellow teacher from the same alma mater that had volunteered in Jamaica. When Williams left USAID, his title was Mission Director to South Africa. At the time there was a problem with Peace Corps volunteers being sexually assaulted abroad. Williams worked with Congress to institute reforms, such as heightened security, training and support for victims. Additionally, under his tenure the Peace Corps expanded its operations into Tunisia and Nepal. Peace Corps also expanded and created new programs in Africa, through partnerships with the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the President's Malaria Initiative and the Feed the Future Initiative. and returned to RTI International in the position of executive vice president of the international development group.

Personal life Williams is fluent in Spanish. He met his wife, Rosa, during his service as a volunteer in the Dominican Republic; they have two sons.