Ray C. Williams DMD
Adjunct Professor, Department of Comprehensive Oral Health, Division of Periodontology, Adams School of Dentistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North CarolinaRay C. Williams is Adjunct Professor, Department of Comprehensive Oral Health, Division of Periodontology at the Adams School of Dentistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He received his DMD degree, with honors, from the University of Alabama School of Dentistry and his certificate in Periodontology and Oral Medicine from the Harvard School of Dental Medicine. He was a postdoctoral fellow in microbiology at the Forsyth Institute in Boston. He was Professor and dean of the School of Dental Medicine, Stony Brook University, New York from 2009 to 2014. Prior to Stony Brook he was the Thomas Straumann Distinguished Professor of Periodontology, Graduate Program Director and Chair of the Department of Periodontology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Before that he was Chair of the Department of Periodontology, Graduate Program Director and Associate Dean for Postdoctoral Education at the Harvard School of Dental medicine.
As a Graduate Program Director, he has trained over 125 women and men who have gone on to have successful careers in academics, government, private practice and industry. His major research interests are clinical and translational research in both pharmacological modification of the host response and in anti-infective approaches to treat periodontal disease. He also works in the area of the oral health-general health relationship. Dr. Williams has authored 140 papers on his work. He is co-editor of the textbook Periodontal Disease and Overall Health: A Clinician’s Guide. He is a Co-founder of the pharmaceutical company Orapharma.
In 2004, Dr. Williams received the American Academy of Periodontology’s Outstanding Educator Award and William J. Gies Award. In 2008 he received the University of North Carolina’s Distinguished Teaching Award and the American Academy of Periodontology’s Gold Medal Award. In 2013 he received the Paul Goldhaber Award from the Harvard School of Dental Medicine.
Dr. Williams resides in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He has one son, Lee Williams.