Dr. Mary Williams Honored with Provost’s Teaching Award for Early Career Faculty

The OU Hudson College of Public Health is proud to celebrate Dr. Mary Williams, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology, as the recipient of the 2024 Provost’s Teaching Award for Early Career Faculty. The award was presented during the HSC Faculty Awards Ceremony on April 24 and recognizes Dr. Williams’ outstanding contributions to teaching, learner assessment, and mentoring in public health education.

The Provost’s Teaching Award is a high honor granted annually to two full-time, regular faculty members—one early career and one seasoned/senior faculty member—who demonstrate meritorious excellence in teaching. Dr. Williams’ recognition underscores her exceptional impact in the classroom and beyond, particularly in shaping the next generation of public health leaders through innovative pedagogy and meaningful mentorship.

Since joining the Hudson College of Public Health in 2017, Dr. Williams has held joint appointments in the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology and the Department of Family Medicine at the OU-Tulsa School of Community Medicine. She currently holds the George Kaiser Family Foundation Chair in Public Health Biostatistics.

A passionate educator, Dr. Williams has taught 11 sections of core graduate-level courses in epidemiology and co-directs the Epidemiology and Medical Statistics course for the Physician Assistant Program. Her creative approaches to course delivery—particularly hybrid and flipped classroom models—have consistently earned her high praise from students, with 80-100% of course evaluations marked as good or excellent since 2021. In addition to her core teaching, she has contributed 27 guest lectures and facilitated numerous workshops, reflecting her dedication to sharing knowledge across both the Tulsa and Oklahoma City campuses.

Pictured is Senior Vice President and Provost for Health Sciences, Dr. Gary E. Raskob and Dr. Mary Williams

Dr. Williams' influence extends well beyond the classroom. She has mentored 61 graduate students, including 8 doctoral and 49 master’s students, many of whom have earned academic recognition for their work. Her mentorship is grounded in community-based research and focuses on public health challenges in nutritional epidemiology and infectious and chronic diseases, particularly among vulnerable and underserved populations. She also supports research for clinical faculty and investigators, having mentored 44 research projects outside traditional coursework. Her collaborative spirit has led to student co-authorship on 13 of her 35 peer-reviewed publications and 13 of her 33 conference presentations.

The Hudson College of Public Health congratulates Dr. Mary Williams on this well-deserved recognition. Her commitment to student success, innovative teaching, and community-centered research exemplifies the mission and values of the college.