David C. Williams - Philadelphia, PA

David C. Williams has a world of experience. A graduate of West Point, he served in Iraq, Bosnia and Germany as well as a non-military stint as an intern for a judge in the Republic of Botswana.

Williams was awarded the Army Commendation for Meritorious Service for duty during Operation Iraqi Freedom II, a theater of war in which he supervised the operational and combat readiness of 23 soldiers and led a convoy that placed radar teams in northeastern Iraq. Before that, he participated in missions in Bosnia.

While in the armed forces Williams also worked as a diversity admissions officer, a post in which he managed recruitment and mentorship of minority West Point candidates across 110 congressional districts spanning 11 states in the western United States.

After leaving the military, with a rank of captain, Williams attended the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where he was elected president of his class as well as vice president of the Black Law Students Association. He was also senior editor of the Journal of Constitutional Law.

While in law school, Williams did internships with the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Programs Branch, where he drafted memoranda on various issues, and also for Steptoe & Johnson, an international law firm based in Washington, D.C.

For another internship he prepared case summaries for Justice Maruping Dibotelo of Botswana and advised the justice regarding the application of principles of U.S. law to Botswanan legal jurisprudence.

Williams earned his undergraduate degree in international relations from the Unites States Military Academy at West Point, where he won the Colonel George K. Osborn III Award for Excellence in Political Science. He played intramural football at West Point and participated in the Sandhurst Military Competition.