Joanne A. Williams

Phone: 269-749-6630

Professor Joanne Williams has worked on numerous local weekly and daily newspapers in her life, finishing a more than 15-year career in journalism at a daily Gannett newspaper in Wisconsin. Following jobs in tourism, marketing and promotions, she joined Olivet in 1998.

At Olivet, Professor Williams teaches in the media production and communication program, specializing in reporting and editing. She also occasionally finds herself teaching writing and rhetoric and self and community courses. She is the adviser for the award-winning student newspaper, The ECHO, as well as other groups on campus, including a Greek society. President of the Michigan Collegiate Press Association, Professor Williams is an active member of a number of journalism and other professional organizations, including the College Media Advisers, the Associated Collegiate Press and the Society of Professional Journalists, where she judges student media work from across the country.

At Olivet College, Professor Williams has been honored to receive numerous advising and teaching awards, including the Drs. Gorton and Peggy Riethmiller Outstanding Faculty Member Award. Professor Williams earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Maryland, College Park, and a master’s degree in humanities from California State University, Dominquez Hills. Her thesis was “The Olivet College Writer’s Conferences, 1936-41.”

Professor Williams embraces Olivet’s mission and encourages all students to do so in their lives and careers, and she delights in keeping in touch with alumni. In her spare time, she enjoys the company of her husband, Arthur, also an Olivet College professor, and writing, reading, movies and travel.