Heather Williams

Dr. Heather Williams is the director of the Project on Nuclear Issues (PONI) and a senior fellow in the Defense and Security Department at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). She is an affiliate with the MIT Center for Nuclear Security Policy, an associate fellow with the Project on Managing the Atom at the Harvard Kennedy School, and a senior associate fellow with the Royal United Services Institute in London. She has been a member of the Defense Science Board and State Department International Security Advisory Board. Before joining CSIS Dr. Williams was a visiting fellow with the Project on Managing the Atom, and a Stanton Nuclear Security fellow in the Security Studies Program at MIT. Until 2022, she was a senior lecturer (associate professor) at King’s College London and served as a specialist adviser to the House of Lords International Relations Committee. Dr. Williams has a PhD in war studies from King’s College London, an MA in security policy studies from the George Washington University, and a BA in international relations and Russian studies from Boston University.