Charles Williams, Jr.
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT Charles Williams, Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Anthropology at The University of Memphis and the former Director of African and African American Studies. Dr. Williams received a baccalaureate degree in Social Science from Rust College in 1969 and the doctorate degree in Anthropology from the University of Illinois in 1981. Since his tenure at the University of Memphis, he has either directed or been involved in basic, applied and evaluation research related to community health, alcoholism and drug abuse, mental health, the homeless, religion, mutual aid societies and community development. He is the founder and executive director of the Alcohol and Drug Prevention Research Center (ADPRC) at the University of Memphis, and has conducted research and evaluation in the field of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs (ATOD) and HIV/AIDS prevention with the following projects: • Tennessee Alcohol and Drug Prevention Outcome Longitudinal Evaluation (TADPOLE), Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities • Office of Minority Health Black Health Care Initiatives, Tennessee Department of Health, Office of Minority Health • Tennessee HIV/AIDS Prevention Evaluation Study, Tennessee Department of Health • Governor’s Prevention Initiative, Tennessee Department of Health • Strategic Planning Framework State Incentive Grant (SPF-SIG), Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Other applied research and evaluation projects in which Williams has been actively involved include: Memphis Police Drug-1 Project, Memphis Police Domestic Violence Project, Ethanol Alcohol Metabolism Research Project, Binghampton Health Needs Assessment Study, Institute of African American Youth After-School (IAAY) and Summer Study Program, and After-School Community-Based Programs funded by the Assisi Foundation of Memphis, and the Project Aware Mentoring Program (PAMP) of Families of Incarcerated Individuals, Inc. For his work in alcohol and drug abuse, Williams was recognized as one of the leading minority researchers in the field by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Dr. Williams has published over 100 journal articles, book chapters and manuscripts in his areas of research interest. He is presently collaborating with a team of scholars on several projects, ranging from the publication of a reader on the subject of the Black Church and Health Care to the writing of several articles on the subject of HIV/AIDS and its impact on Communities of Color.