Shelton Williams

Last updated

Shelton Williams, a native of Odessa, Texas, is a Professor Emeritus of Political Science and International Studies at Austin College in Sherman, Texas. He is also the President of the Osgood Center for International Studies in Washington, D.C. Williams is a specialist in issues relating to nuclear proliferation. He has served as an advisor to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and also as a special assistant to Madeleine Albright.

Contents

Early life

Williams grew up in Odessa, Texas, where he graduated from Permian High School. He attended the University of Texas at Austin from 1962 until 1966, graduating Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. degree and Honors in Government.

After graduating from the University of Texas, Williams attended what is now the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies of Johns Hopkins University, located in Washington, D.C. He received a Ph.D. from SAIS in 1971.

Academic career

Williams joined the faculty at Austin College in 1970, serving in the ensuing years as Dean of Social Sciences, Director of the College Honors Program, and Director of the Posey Leadership Institute.

In 2007 Williams joined the faculty of the College of Graduate and Continuing Studies at Norwich University, where he is a Professor in the Master of Arts in Diplomacy (MDY) program.

During the Administration of Jimmy Carter, Williams served for two years (1976 to 1982) in Washington, D.C., as a policy analyst and then special consultant to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on matters relating to international proliferation. Williams returned to Federal service again during the Bill Clinton Administration when he served as a William C. Foster Visiting Scholar at the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency [ACDA]. ACDA posted him to the US Mission to the UN where he worked with Madeleine Albright, dealing especially with United States representation at the United Nations on nuclear proliferation.

Model United Nations

Williams has been a supporter of the Model United Nations program for over forty years. The program provides international simulation experiences for college students through regional, national, and international conferences that teach multilateral diplomatic skills. He has served as mentor for dozens of Model United Nations delegations from several schools, including Austin College and the University of Texas at Dallas He twice served on the advisory council of the National Model UN.

Recent Publications

'Washed in the Blood and the Covey Jencks mystery series.

Williams was profoundly affected as a young man by the murder of his one-year-older cousin Betty Williams in 1961, an event much publicized at the time throughout the Southwestern United States and popularly known as the "Kiss and Kill Murder." He devoted years of study to the facts of his cousin's killing and the court trial of her alleged murderer, writing a true crime book about the affair entitled Washed in the Blood. Williams's book made his cousin Betty the subject of magazine and newspaper articles across the southwestern United States. [1] Williams was one of the on-camera interviewees in 2015 when Investigation Discovery's series A Crime to Remember recounted the story in the Season 3 finale, "Bye Bye Betty". Williams also wrote "The Summer of 66," an account of his experience that summer that culminated in the Charles Whitman shootings from the University of Texas Tower. Williams also contributed to "Out of the Blue," a University of Texas Archives oral history of the Whitman massacre on August 1, 1966. In February 2018, Williams published "Covey Jencks," a fictional amateur detective novel based in Odessa. "Covey and JayJay Get Educated" and "The Chinese Murder of Edward Watts" followed. All three books are mysteries, but they also reflect on current social issues like racism and extremism. All three stories are combined in "The Covey Jencks Mysteries: Love and Murder Deep in the Heart of Texas."

The Osgood Center for International Studies

In addition to his academic appointment at Austin College, Williams also serves as the founding president of the Osgood Center for International Studies. This organization, based in Washington, D.C., provides internship opportunities, study experiences, simulation opportunities, and special seminars for college and university students from a variety of countries and backgrounds.

Related Research Articles

Robert L. Gallucci is an American academic and diplomat, who formerly worked as president of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. He previously served as dean of the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, from 1996 to June 2009. Prior to his appointment in 1996, for over two decades he had served in various governmental and international agencies, including the Department of State and the United Nations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Africa and weapons of mass destruction</span>

From the 1960s to the 1990s, South Africa pursued research into weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons under the apartheid government. South Africa’s nuclear weapons doctrine was designed for political leverage rather than actual battlefield use, specifically to induce the United States of America to intervene in any regional conflicts between South Africa and the Soviet Union or its proxies. To achieve a minimum credible deterrence, a total of six nuclear weapons were covertly assembled by the late 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louise Fréchette</span> 1st United Nations Deputy Secretary-General

Louise Fréchette, OC is a Canadian diplomat and public servant who served for eight years as United Nations Deputy Secretary-General. She also served a three-year term at the Centre for International Governance Innovation, an international relations and policy think-tank in Waterloo, Ontario, working on a major research project on nuclear energy and the world's security.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Joseph</span> American academic and ambassador

Robert G. Joseph is a senior scholar at the National Institute for Public Policy. He was the United States Special Envoy for Nuclear Nonproliferation, with ambassadorial rank. Prior to this post, Joseph was the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, a position he held until January 24, 2007. Joseph is known for being instrumental in creating the Proliferation Security Initiative and as the architect of the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism. He was also the US chief negotiator to Libya in 2003 who convinced the Libyans to give up their WMD programs. He also recently authored a book describing his experience in negotiating with Libya entitled "Countering WMD."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Albright</span> American killer from Dallas, Texas

Charles Frederick Albright also known as the Eyeball Killer, was an American murderer and suspected serial killer from Texas who was convicted of killing one woman and suspected of killing two others in 1991. He was incarcerated in the John Montford Psychiatric Unit in Lubbock, Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mitchell Reiss</span> American diplomat (born 1957)

Mitchell B. Reiss is an American diplomat, academic, and business leader who served as the 8th President and CEO of The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the 27th president of Washington College and in the United States Department of State.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerard C. Smith</span> American attorney and defense expert (1913–1994)

Gerard Coad Smith was an American attorney and defense expert who served as the chief U.S. delegate to the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) in 1969 and the first U.S. Chairman of the Trilateral Commission. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom on January 16, 1981 by President Jimmy Carter.

Ralph Earle II was an American diplomat and arms control negotiator. He was a key architect of several major international arms control accords. He served as the United States' chief negotiator at the SALT II round of talks on nuclear disarmament from 1978 to 1979, as director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA) between 1980 and 1981 and as deputy director at the ACDA from 1994 to 1999.

The Osgood Center for International Studies is a not-for-profit educational foundation located at 1629 K Street, NW, Suite 300, Washington, D.C. It is named in honor of Robert E. Osgood and his wife Gretchen.

Karl Frederick Inderfurth is an American diplomat. He was the Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs from August 1997 to January 2001. In his capacity as Assistant Secretary, Inderfurth was responsible for US policy regarding Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Prior to his appointment as Assistant Secretary, Inderfurth served as the U.S. Representative for Special Political Affairs to the United Nations, with the rank of Ambassador. In this capacity, Ambassador Inderfurth dealt with issues such as UN peacekeeping, disarmament, nuclear proliferation and security affairs. Ambassador Inderfurth also served as Deputy U.S. Representative on the United Nations Security Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry D. Sokolski</span>

Henry D. Sokolski is the founder and executive director of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank promoting a better understanding of strategic weapons proliferation issues among policymakers, scholars, and the media. He teaches as an adjunct professor at The Institute of World Politics in Washington, D.C., and at the University of Utah and has an appointment as senior fellow for nuclear security studies at the University of California at San Diego's School of Global Policy and Strategy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frances Farenthold</span> American politician (1926–2021)

Mary Frances Tarlton "Sissy" Farenthold was an American politician, attorney, activist, and educator. She was best known for her two campaigns for governor of Texas in 1972 and 1974, and for being placed in nomination for vice president of the United States, finishing second at the 1972 Democratic National Convention. She was elected as the first chair of the National Women's Political Caucus in 1973.

Jerre Stockton Williams was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

Covey Thomas Oliver was a United States diplomat and law professor.

Michael Frary was an American Modernist artist from Santa Monica, California, who was known for his interest in structural forms and architectural compositions, as well as for his Surrealist impulses. A versatile artist, Frary experimented with a range of mediums and constantly refined his approach to his subjects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paula A. DeSutter</span> American government official

Paula Adamo DeSutter was United States Assistant Secretary of State for Verification, Compliance, and Implementation from 2002 to 2009.

The Nuclear Studies Institute was founded in 1995 at American University in Washington, D.C. as a component of the American University College of Arts and Sciences. The purpose of the Institute is to educate American University graduate and undergraduate students, as well as the general public, about the key points of nuclear history, nuclear culture in the United States, and the threats still posed by nuclear weapons in the modern world.

Thomas Graham Jr. is a former senior U.S. diplomat. Graham was involved in the negotiation of every single international arms control and non-proliferation agreement from 1970 to 1997. This includes the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks, the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaties, the Anti-ballistic missile (ABM) Treaty, Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) Treaty, Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty (NPT), Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty and Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). In 1993, Ambassador Graham served as acting director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA) from January to November, 1993 and Acting Deputy Director from November, 1993 to July, 1994. From 1994 through 1997, he was president Bill Clinton's special representative for Arms Control, Non-Proliferation, and Disarmament. Graham successfully led the U.S. government efforts to achieve the permanent extension of the NPT in 1995. Graham also served for 15 years as the general counsel of ACDA. Throughout his career, Thomas Graham has worked with six U.S. Presidents including Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and Bill Clinton. Ambassador Graham worked on the negotiation of the Chemical Weapons Convention and the Biological Weapons Convention and managed the Senate approval of the ratification of the Geneva Protocol banning the use of chemical and biological weapons in war, as well as the Biological Weapons Convention.

George Bunn was an American diplomat, lawyer, and nonproliferation expert. He drafted the legislation that created the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA), was one of the lead U.S. negotiators of the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), served as Dean of the law school at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and spent the last two decades of his career at the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University.

"Kiss and Kill" refers to the March 20, 1961 homicide of Betty Williams, a teenager from Odessa, Texas, United States. She was killed by her ex-boyfriend John Mack Herring at her own request in Winkler County, Texas. Herring was tried and acquitted for the killing after his lawyers argued that he had temporary insanity.

References

  1. "New to the Nighstand", The Alcalde, p. 58, July 2007