Susan Williams a distinguished professor in the department of evolution and ecology at the University of California, Davis, died late last month in a six-vehicle automobile crash in Petaluma, California. She was 66 years old.
Dr. Williams joined the faculty at the university in 2000 as the director of the Bodega Marine Laboratory. She held that post for a decade and then resumed a full-time schedule of teaching and research on the university’s main campus. Gary Cherr, who succeeded her as director of the marine laboratory said that Dr. Williams “was among the most renowned marine ecologists in the United States and the world.” Her research showed how seagrass and seaweed could aid the restoration of damaged habitats.
Professor Williams was a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and was a president of the Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation.
Dr. Williams was a graduate of the University of Michigan, where she majored in biology. She earned a master’ degree in biological oceanography at the University of Alaska and a Ph.D. in botany and marine biology at the University of Maryland.