The College of Pharmacy is proud to announce that Robert O. (Bill) Williams III, Ph.D. has been named the recipient of this year's Faculty Mentoring Award. Dr. Williams is Division Head and Professor of Molecular Pharmaceutics and Drug Delivery, Johnson & Johnson Centennial Chair in Pharmacy and Editor-in-chief of AAPS PharmSciTech.
Faculty mentoring is an essential part of academic success, serving as a way for seasoned faculty members to share their experience and insights with those seeking guidance in their careers. The college strongly believes that faculty members can benefit from mentoring at all stages of their careers and encourages mentorship across the faculty community.
The recipient receives a one-year $5,000 salary supplement and $2,500 in discretionary funds from the Revco Endowed Faculty Fellowship and a commemorative item recognizing the achievement.
Numerous faculty have benefited from Dr. Williams' exceptional guidance, generosity and unwavering commitment across research, teaching and institutional service. His hands-on approach to faculty guidance has had a significant positive effect on students, faculty and the college community.
One nominee stated: "Bill's mentorship in teaching was transformative... [he] worked side-by-side with me to redesign course materials, develop active-learning activities and create meaningful in-class experiences that helped students connect core concepts to real-world pharmacy practice."
Another nominee shared: "He invested substantial time and thought into helping me define a clear career roadmap and refine my teaching philosophy, ensuring alignment with both institutional priorities and my long-term vision as an educator and researcher. His mentorship has shaped how I approach and tailor classroom instruction."
Dr. Williams earned a B.S. in biology from Texas A&M University and a B.S. in pharmacy and a Ph.D. in pharmaceutics from The University of Texas at Austin. Research in his laboratory focuses on the formulation, development, optimization and delivery of small organic compounds, peptides and proteins by a variety of technologies, including depot drug delivery, oral drug delivery and pulmonary/nasal/ophthalmic drug delivery.
Current research also focuses on aerosol device technology and novel analytical methods to quantitate and characterize these technologies. He was named the 2017 Inventor of the Year by the University’s Office of Technology Commercialization and was elected a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors in 2019.