James Williams III

James Williams is currently the Senior Director of City and County Governmental Relations at the University of Pittsburgh.

City and County Governmental Relations is responsible for governmental activities between the University of Pittsburgh and the City of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County.  It is the principal source of information on city and county governmental matters and is the institutional point of contact for local governments.  Williams facilitates communication among Pitt faculty, staff, students, local municipal elected officials, and department administrators and their staff.  Hedevelops and implements strategies to provide a positive interface with the city of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, and other surrounding county and municipal governments.

Williams served ten (10) years in the United States Air National Guard as a Warehouse Technician and Civil Engineer.  While stationed at Andrews Air Force Base in Prince George’s County, Maryland, he served as the Legislative Assistant to United States Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison in Washington, DC.  In this role, he worked on several speeches, bills, and amendments, and responded to constituent inquiries on Small Business, Agriculture, Health/Welfare, Armed Forces, and Labor issues.

He graduated from Hampton University School of Business and the United States Senate Page High School at the United States Library of Congress.  He is also a graduate of Leadership Pittsburgh, Inc., Leadership Development Initiative XIV.  

Williams served on several boards, including the Board of Governors of Amen Corner, one of Pittsburgh’s oldest social networks for business, politics, and pleasure.  Primary Care Health Services, which offers primary and preventive healthcare and complementary services to medically underserved and indigent populations in Allegheny County.  Williams is a board member of the WPJWA (Wilkinsburg-Penn Joint Water Authority), the A. Philip Randolph Institute, which builds equity through training, advocacy, and community. Connecting working people in the Pittsburgh region to family-sustaining careers in the trades, manufacturing, and emerging energy. He is also an active member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated, where he served two (2) terms as Vice President of its local chapter.