Aaron Williams

Aaron Williams, MBA ’73, is Senior Advisor—Emeritus, International Development & Government Relations, at RTI International, and a former Director of U.S. Peace Corps.

In 2009, he was appointed by President Barack Obama as Director of the U.S. Peace Corps, serving in that role through 2012. He was executive vice president of RTI International’s International Development Group from 2012 to 2018, and as vice president of international business development for RTI from 2003 to 2009. In 2015, he was appointed by President Obama as the U.S. Alternative Representative to the executive board of UNICEF.

Before his previous tenure at RTI, Williams served as a senior official at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for 22 years. His long and distinguished career in public service and the private sector began with three years of service as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Dominican Republic. He served as a senior official at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), where he reached the rank of career minister in the Senior Foreign Service. His awards include the USAID Distinguished Career Service Award and the Presidential Award for Distinguished Service.

Mr. Williams has extensive experience in the strategic design and management of assistance programs in Latin America, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. He is a frequent lecturer and panelist on international development topics at universities, research and policy institutes, and at U.S. and global conferences.

Mr. Williams is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and serves on the Board of Directors of CADCA, IREX, the Ron Brown Scholar Program, and World Education Services (WES). He has also served on the boards of directors of the Childfund International, U.S. Global Leadership Campaign, Seed Global Health, CARE, the National Peace Corps Association, the Institute for Sustainable Communities, and the George Washington University – Elliott School of International Affairs’ Advisory Board. He is an adjunct professor at the University of North Carolina – Gillings School of Global Public Health.