Roy Williams

Mr. Howard Roy Williams, 89, passed away peacefully early morning on Wednesday, September 25, 2019. A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, October 12, 2019 in the New York City area. Known by friends, family and colleagues as Roy, Mr. Williams was an exceptionally intelligent, committed, athletic and compassionate man. He lived a life of curiosity, introspection, integrity and discipline. He was cherished by his family, friends and colleagues alike. Born and raised in New York City, Mr. Williams earned a Bachelor's degree from Columbia University, where he ran track and played football, and attended Columbia Law School. He also served honorably in the US Army and Army Reserves from 1955 to 1963. Much of his life was dedicated to his career in the field of international humanitarian aid and emergency response. His work took him around the world; he traveled extensively across Europe, Asia, Africa, the Americas and the Middle East. He and his wife Carol lived in Switzerland, Malaysia and Thailand-the place where he most felt at home aside from New York City. Early in his career he served with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), formerly known as the International Committee for European Migration (ICEM), in Malaysia, Thailand, and Geneva, Switzerland, where he served as Chief of Operations from 1983 to 1985. Mr. Williams worked with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) from 1985 to 1998, as Director of Operations, VP for Overseas Programs, and VP for Overseas Policy and Planning. During this time, he led efforts that resulted in the conceptualization, creation, and staffing of IRC's Emergency Preparedness Unit. He helped to establish and staff IRC offices in a variety of places, including Northern Iraq, Jordan, the Balkans, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, and Southern Sudan. From 1998 to 2001, he was Director of the Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance, Bureau for Humanitarian Response (BHR/OFDA) of the Agency for International Development (USAID), overseeing disaster preparedness and relief and rehabilitation programs throughout the world. Most recently, Mr. Williams was President and CEO of the Center for Humanitarian Cooperation, an organization focused on achieving coordination in humanitarian work through enhanced cooperation. Concurrently, he served as an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), and a Professor at the University Swiss Italia in Lugano, Switzerland. He has served as a Visiting Professor at the Peacekeeping and Stability Institute of the Army War College (PKSOI), in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He also led classes at the Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS), in Monterey, California, and the American University in Washington, DC. Mr. Williams was predeceased by his parents, Amos and Georgiana Williams and his siblings, Alton, Dorothy, Gloria and Alfred Williams. He is survived by his wife of 37 years, Carol Weeg and his four children, Omkari Hill-Williams and her wife, Cate Hill-Williams, Howard Williams, Wendy Williams and Parker Williams and his wife, Emma Mondadori. He is also survived by a house full of pets, with whom he had a complicated relationship: Rusty, Lou, Bodie, Callie and Tippy.