Michael Williams

Michael L. Williams remembers his USC Dornsife education as a key step toward realizing early ambitions to seek public office. In seven years at USC, where he earned a B.A. in political science, a master of public administration and a J.D., Williams says he was compelled to grapple with essential questions of purpose and belief, and develop the core skill sets that would serve him well in his professional life. “This university taught me how to deal with complexity,” he says. “More than anything, it’s that ability to deal with complexity — to think analytically and strategically — that means something.”

A Life of Commitment

Over thirty years, Williams served in both national and statewide offices in Texas. After an early start as an assistant district attorney in his hometown of Midland, he went on to work for the Reagan Administration as a federal prosecutor at the Department of Justice. In this role, he won acclaim and the Attorney General’s Special Achievement Award for the conviction of six Ku Klux Klan members. He later served in the George H. W. Bush Administration, as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Law Enforcement at the Department of the Treasury and as Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights at the Department of Education. At the Department of Education, Williams was responsible for writing much of today’s existing federal policy relating to investigations of civil rights violations in K-12 and higher education settings.

Williams returned to Texas to serve as a member of the Texas Railroad Commission, which is responsible for regulating the state oil and gas industry. He was reelected to the Commission three times, becoming the first African American in Texas history elected to serve in the Executive Branch of the state government. He then served as Commissioner of the Texas Education Agency, with responsibility over a K-12 education system that serves five million students.

Giving Back to Trojans 

This year, after retiring from his role as Texas Education Commissioner, Williams and his wife of 32 years, Donna, established the Commissioner Michael L. Williams Endowed Scholarship. This scholarship will provide funding for Texas students to pursue studies at USC Dornsife, with a particular focus on enabling first-generation students to access a Dornsife education.

Williams describes the decision to establish the scholarship as a reflection of his commitment to two of the great loves of his life: USC and his native state. “I don’t think anyone has ever had a better collegiate experience than I had at USC in my seven years there,” he says. “If the students who receive this scholarship have even a small fraction of what I had, if this scholarship helps them to learn their purpose, then that’s worth it. And if they decide to return back home to Texas after they’re done, then good on them.”

Williams hopes that the students who receive the scholarship will engage in some form of service, regardless of their fields of study or career interests. “I just hope that they’ll find their purpose here, as I did,” he says.

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