Betty Smith Williams, DrPH, RN, FAAN

Dr. Betty Smith Williams is professor emeritus, Department of Nursing, California State University, Long Beach. She is former dean and professor, School of Nursing, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver, and she has also held faculty and assistant dean positions in the School of Nursing at UCLA. She continues to teach and mentor nursing students and to provide her expertise to a variety of health organizations and companies.

Dr. Williams is a founder, charter member and seventh president of the National Black Nurses Association. She cofounded the Council of Black Nurses Inc., Los Angeles, in 1968. She is president of the National Coalition of Ethnic Minority Nurse Associations and was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing in 1980.

Dr. Williams has been national treasurer of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. and president of DST Telecommunications Inc. She has served on philanthropic and corporate boards, including Blue Cross of California. She is a member of the National Black Leadership Roundtable, Summit Health Coalition, and the Black Congress on Health, Law and Economics.

A recipient of the Distinguished Alumnae Award from Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University, Dr. Williams has been listed among the 100+ Influential Organization Leaders by Ebony magazine. In 1989, the UCLA School of Public Health established the Betty Smith Williams Scholarship for graduate education of African American students.

Dr. Williams holds a doctor of public health and an MS in nursing from the University of California, Los Angeles; an MN in nursing from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio; and a BS in zoology from Howard University, Washington, D.C. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, architect Harold Louis Williams.

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