Dr. Kevin B. Williams

Education

• B.A., Criminal Justice, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, 1995
• M.P.H., Health Administration and Policy, Morehouse School of Medicine, 1998
• Ph.D., Philosophy (Social Foundations), University of Georgia, 2008

Dr. Kevin B. Williams is the former project coordinator for the Injury Prevention Center at Hughes Spalding Children’s Hospital in Atlanta, Ga., where he taught health education to patients, parents and staff. His other responsibilities included managing a grant from the Robert Woodruff Foundation, data collection and evaluation of program and research activities.

While an undergraduate at Florida A&M University (FAMU) and a graduate student at Atlanta’s Morehouse School of Medicine, he worked with the Office of Minority Health (Rockville, Md.), Leon County Schools (Tallahassee, Fla.), the Georgia State Health Planning Agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Morehouse’s Regional Research Center for Minority Health.

Kevin Williams was an entrepreneur from 1993 – 2006 serving as the former president and CEO of Uplift Enterprises Inc., a management, special events, and production company. Dr. Williams has also served as Owner and Vice President of Community and Cultural Outreach for Wolfpack Enterprises Inc., which hosted “1st Fridays Atlanta,” a monthly event for young African American professionals.

Kevin Williams served as a Research Consultant and Principal Investigator for a program he co-founded in January 2006 with a $52,000 grant that was awarded to him from Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc., International office. The program created a research think tank entitled “The Bishop Edgar A. Love Bridge Builders Program” which was housed in the Institute for Faith-Health Leadership at Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC) located in Atlanta, Ga. The first major research project for the program was conducted by Kevin, which was his dissertation study titled “A Study of Self-Determination Skills of Students with Learning Disabilities at Selected Historically Black Colleges and Universities.”

Kevin has over 15 years of teaching both undergraduate and graduate courses in private, professional and public universities. Pulling from the late great Dr. Benjamin E. Mays and his Grandfather Dr. Edward B. Williams, Kevin developed a pedagogical interest that he refers to as “uplift” education. Kevin believes a person using uplift education values the learner’s contribution in the classroom and challenges the student to be great in critical thinking, writing and oral delivery. An uplift educator also challenges the learner to think about the larger contribution that he or she can make through his or her education and career.

In 2013, he was awarded the CeDAR Honors Trailblazer Award for his exceptional accomplishments as a FAMU alumnus and advocate for persons with disabilities. The Trailblazer award is the highest honor given by The Center for Disability Access and Resources at Florida A&M University.

Courses taught

Healthcare Leadership, Organization Leadership, Research Methods

Research and professional interests

Kevin’s current research focus is on African American students living with learning disabilities, and the health and education outcomes of those students. Other research interests of Dr. Williams include health services research, health workforce research, health policy research and leadership, and “Uplift” education.

Contact Dr. Williams

478.301.2820
williams_kb@mercer.edu