Dr. Michael P. Williams

Dr. Michael P. Williams District IV District Map TRUSTEE PERSPECTIVE Dr. Michael P. Williams is a visionary leader, exemplary community advocate, academic innovator, gifted author and nationally recognized educator. He was elected to the Board of Trustees for Houston Community College in 1999. He has served the institution’s board in numerous capacities, including board chair twice, in 2005 and in 2010. Williams is the Founding Pastor of Joy Tabernacle in Houston, which in 1999 became the first African-American church to relocate to the heart of Houston’s inner city for service and advocacy. He has also served as Senior Pastor for the Antioch Missionary Baptist Church in Houston and the East End Baptist Tabernacle Church in Bridgeport, CT. He has preached in 37 of the 50 states, three continents and in the Middle East. Williams also founded HOPE for Houston, Inc., a non-profit agency committed to serving at-risk young people and their families. Williams was honored this spring by his alma mater, Westminster College, Fulton, Missouri, with the coveted 2010 Westminster Lifetime Alumni Achievement Award. The award is presented annually to alumni who have distinguished themselves through personal achievements, professional achievements and/or have made significant contributions to society. Williams is a 1973 graduate of Westminster College and is the first African-American to be so honored. Williams earned his undergraduate degree from Westminster College; his Master of Divinity degree from Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut; and his Doctor of Ministry degree from Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas. While at Yale, he earned the coveted Yale Graduate Fellowship and the Rockefeller Foundation's Protestant Fellowship. At SMU, his doctoral dissertation on mentoring as an evangelistic method was awarded highest honors. His honors also include induction into the Martin Luther King Jr., Collegium of Preachers, at Morehouse College, Atlanta, Georgia, the “Big 15” – Houston’s Top African American Pastors, the Keeping the Dream Alive Award from the Martin Luther King Jr. Parade Foundation, the 2010 Who’s Who in Black Houston and Who’s Who Among Black Americans. Williams is the author of three books and his articles have been featured in professional and popular journals. Dr. Williams has served as a professor at several universities, including the University of Houston. A commanding presence, he is a highly sought-after speaker for conferences and conventions and on college campuses across the nation. It is his dedication to the community and serving disenfranchised communities that have been hallmarks of his career. It is also part of the unique vision he has brought with him to HCC. In 2004, Dr. Williams received a tremendous honor – the renaming of a Houston street, Carol Lane, to Dr. Michael P. Williams Plaza. This is an honor that is usually given posthumously. Dr. Williams is deeply committed to Houston and understands that our youth will play an important role in shaping our city for future generations. As he does from the pulpit of Joy Tabernacle – and now from his seat on the HCC Board – Dr. Williams works tirelessly to help change lives for the better. The venues may change, but his dedication and unwavering spirit do not. Dr. Williams and his wife, Donna, have three children and two grandchildren. Dr. Williams' current HCC term runs through 2011. ACHIEVEMENTS/AWARDS • Who’s Who in Black Houston • Who’s Who Among Black Americans • 2010 Westminster Lifetime Alumni Achievement Award • Keeping the Dream Alive Award, MLK Parade Foundation (2007) • Senior Fellow, the American Leadership Forum (Class XVII) Named one of Houston's top 15 African-American ministers, Houston Defender (1999) • President, HOPE for the Inner City, Inc. (a community development corporation committed to building affordable housing and small business development) • Chair, Board of Directors of HOPE for Houston, Inc. (a non-profit agency providing social services to at risk youth and their families) • Advisory Board, New Hope Housing Corporation • Chair, Clergy Partnership for Community Development • First African-American to sit on the Connecticut Board of Higher Education (the governing board for the State's higher education system) • Board of Directors, National Baptist Convention USA, Inc. • Governing Board, National Council of Churches • Inducted into the Martin Luther King, Jr. Collegium of Preachers at Morehouse College; honored as a "distinguished preacher whose proclamation and community service exemplifies the social ministry of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr." (1994)