Born in Jacksonville, Florida, Nathaniel R. Jones Jr. Professor Neil Williams grew up in 1960s’ Atlanta during the tail end of Jim Crow and amidst the civil rights movement. His mother was a third-grade teacher who had a master’s degree in education. His father, one of the first licensed Black veterinarians in the state of Georgia, treated the pets of many civil rights pioneers, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

“When Dr. King was assassinated, I still remember it,” says Williams. “My father and mother both marched in the funeral procession. My father actually issued the veterinary certificates for the two mules who were pulling Dr. King’s casket.”

Williams remembers the injustices of segregation well—from having to drink out of separate, less sanitary drinking fountains to being kept out of advanced classes in school. “Even though Brown v. Board of Education had been decided back in ’54, the South was very slow in implementing integration,” he says. “I was in segregated elementary schools part of the time.” Williams went on to become the first Black valedictorian of his integrated high school and received a partial scholarship to attend Duke University, where he graduated summa cum laude. Director of Communications Kristi Turnbaugh talked to Williams about why he chose to study law over English, introducing Barack Obama to Michelle Robinson, and his “step” method of teaching.