Retired entomology chair Williams passes away

Professor emeritus and retired entomology department chair Mike Williams passed away Aug. 20. Williams joined the Auburn University faculty in 1973 after serving as assistant state entomologist for the Maryland State Department of Agriculture.

Williams served as chair of the Auburn Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology from 1999 to 2005. He retired from Auburn and was named professor emeritus in 2012.

“Dr. Williams was very much a beloved professor and colleague at Auburn,” said Arthur Appel, interim dean of the Auburn College of Agriculture. “He made a profound impact as a scientist and professor whose work took him throughout the world. I know that generations of students have wonderful memories of his classes and consider his influence a major part of their Auburn education.”

Williams graduated from Arkansas State University before completing his master’s and Ph.D. in entomology from Virginia Tech University.

Through his career, he was selected for inclusion in Personalities of the South, American Men and Women of Science, Who’s Who in America and the International Directory of Distinguished Leadership.