Martha E. Williams

Martha E. Williams (September 21, 1934- July 5, 2007) was an information scientist best known for her work in online databases and information retrieval systems.

Early life Martha Williams was born on September 21, 1934, in Chicago, Illinois, to Harold and Alice Williams. She grew up as one of five siblings on the North Side of Chicago. Williams attended Catholic high school at the Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart for girls in Chicago, Illinois. She received her bachelor's degree in chemistry in 1955 from Barat College in Lake Forest, Illinois, also a women's institution. She later received her master's degree in philosophy from Loyola University of Chicago in 1957.

Career

Early career Williams began her career as a chemist at the Illinois Institute of Technology Research Institute (IITRI) in Chicago. First as a technical assistant, then as an assistant supervisor in technical information research, and finally as the manager of information sciences. Additionally, Williams became director of the Computer Search Center as she secured funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and began research into database searching applications.

Leadership/Awards Williams also held many leadership roles within several institutions:

Chairman of the board of directors, Engineering Information Inc. (1981-1989) Chairman of the board of regents, U.S. National Library of Medicine (1981-1982) President, Association for Information and Dissemination Centers (1975-1975; 1976-1977) Chairman, Large Database Subcommittee of the Committee on Chemical Information; National Academy of Sciences (1973-1973) President, American Society for Information Science (ASIS); (1987-1988) Editor, Annual Review of Information Science and Technology (ARIST); (1975-2000) Award of Merit, American Society for Information Science and Technology (1984)