Michael Lawrence Williams

Michael L. Williams was appointed Texas Commissioner of Education by Gov. Rick Perry on Sept. 1, 2012. After earning a Bachelor’s, Master’s and law degree from the University of Southern California, Williams returned to his hometown of Midland where he served as an assistant district attorney. He went on to become a federal prosecutor in the Reagan Justice Department. George Herbert Walker Bush appointed Williams as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Law Enforcement at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. In 1990, President Bush named Williams the Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education. In 1998, Gov. George W. Bush appointed Williams to an unexpired term on the Railroad Commission of Texas, the oldest regulatory body in this state. Gov. Perry selected Williams as his designee in 2005 to lead the state’s long-term relief efforts following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. He previously served as an adjunct professor at Texas Southern University in the School of Public Affairs, the University of Texas of the Permian Basin, and the Texas Wesleyan School of Law. He also serves as Chairman of the UTPB Business Advisory Council.