Ronald Williams

Dr. Ronald C. Williams has been a member of the Coppin State University (CSU) faculty since 1996 where he also served as interim dean of College of Business from 2013 until 2017. During his leadership, the College attained specialized accreditation through the Accreditation Council of Business Schools and Programs and was ranked as one of the “2015 Top 50 of Small College Business Programs” in the U.S. by the “Business Research Guide.” He also established the first formal relationship between a community-embedded makerspace (Open Works Baltimore), a public HBCU, and development of a certificate program in Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management.

Dr. Williams’s commitment to student engagement is evident in awards for projects including learners. Awards include: 1. Greater Baltimore Committee Bridging the Gap Award for Strategic Partnership 2017 (OpenWorks / Coppin Collaboration), 2. “Fan Favorite Award” at the 2018 Allegheny Region Cleantech University Prize (CUP) Collegiate Competition, hosted by the Carnegie Mellon University’s Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation (College of Business / Center for Nanotechnology Student Team), 3 First Place 2015 Proctor and Gamble Innovation Competition. Student teams are interdisciplinary and entrepreneurial. After leading a student team to compete in the 2020 Emerging Research National Conference sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) NSF HBCU Making & Innovation Showcase, he joined the conference planning team for 2021.

Recent professional activity by Dr. Williams includes: moderating the Equity Panel Discussion at the “Nation of Makers” 2019 National Conference, serving on the panel for equity and inclusion at the “2019 Capital Hill Maker Faire” sponsored by the House of Representatives Capitol Hill Makers Caucus and the Nation of Makers, presenting “Ingepreneurial Trust Frameworks or Socio-economic and Economic Advancement @ the 14th European Conference on Innovation and Entrepreneurship,” Kalamata, Greece, copresenting at the 2020 Nation of Maker Conference: Makerspace Sustainability: Finance, Growth, and Leadership.” His commitment to equitable economic development, particularly in manufacturing, led to his service on the boards of the Urban Manufacturing Alliance and the Open Works makerspace in Baltimore. He is also serving as academic consultant on Advance Manufacturing Workforce Development Industry & Inclusion Study (a joint research project by The Century Foundation and Urban Manufacturing Alliance funded by the Lumina Foundation)

Knowledge and artifactual impact in Dr. Williams’s discipline has been demonstrated in funded research, articles, and presentations including: “Turning Makerspaces into Greater Places: An Organizational Assessment and Economic Impact Study of OpenWorks,” “Creating a University Driven Ingepreneurial Ecosystem in West Baltimore: A Strategy for Rust Belt Revitalization,” and “Ingepreneurship: A Trust Framework for Facilitating Urban Economic Growth and Socioeconomic Advancement” at the 14th European Conference on Innovation and Entrepreneurship. He is also an author or contributor to several periodicals, including: The Baltimore Sun ( “Top Workplaces are Like Nurturing Communities” ), The Brookings Institution (“How a Baltimore makerspace is encouraging trust between local residents, businesses, and institutions”), the Nation of Makers (“To Know Us is to Love Us: Developing a Culture of Data-Informed Inclusivity”), and The Century Foundation’s “Racial Equity and Advancing the Future of Manufacturing.” His current research includes “Trust Profile Inventory Validation.” and “A Makerspace’s Rapid Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study.” His complete body of work can be reviewed at http://www.ronaldcwilliamsphd.com/

Dr. Williams received his Ph.D. in management and organization from George Washington University in Washington, D.C with concentrations in organization behavior and development and the management of science, technology, and innovation. He holds a master's degree in human resource development from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, and a bachelor's degree in psychology, social science, and education from the University of Tampa in Tampa, Florida.