Biology graduate Ronald Williams completed a medical degree at the University of Illinois and a master’s in public health at Johns Hopkins University; a year at the U.S. Army War College in Pennsylvania; a Fellowship in Pediatric Infectious Disease; and a residency in Public Health and Preventive Medicine. He is American Board Certified in pediatrics and preventive medicine.

As commanding officer of the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Disease, he studied the defense of infectious disease of biological weapons. He was commanding officer of the General Leonard Wood Army Hospital and deputy director and chief of medicine at the Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Science, Thailand.

Formerly with the Department of Defense, he was a member of the U.S delegation to the Third Review Conference of the Biological Weapons Convention during the Gulf War.

He and his wife offered medical aid in Sri Lanka following the tsunami. He has cared for incarcerated youth and Native Americans. Retired from the military, he remains a practicing pediatrician.

Watch video of the 2014 Alumni Award recipients talking about how Illinois State changed their lives: