Advancing the Nation’s Energy and Environmental Mission

Dr. Joseph Williams - Seattle Director, Seattle Research Center

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
How is a premier Department of Energy research lab addressing our nation’s most pressing energy and environmental challenges? Hear from the Seattle Director for the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Dr. Joseph Williams, about how PNNL works in conjunction with the public and private sector to enhance the resiliency of U.S. energy systems, sustain U.S. leadership in a global clean energy economy, and promote healthy environments through our climate security capabilities. (Did you know: PNNL has 5,500 employees based mostly in the State of Washington, 235 of whom are located in Seattle?)

About the Speaker

Dr. Williams is responsible for the strategy and daily oversight of PNNL’s Seattle Research Center. Joseph is a member of the Lab’s National Security Directorate’s extended leadership teaml his research and engagement portfolio includes innovation management, quantum computing, and AI assurance. He supports the operational functions required to enable the missions of national security sponsors for programs delivered via PNNL’s Seattle office. Joseph holds a TS/SCI clearance. Previously, Joseph was Washington Governor Jay Inslee’s ICT Sector Lead, serving as the Governor’s tech policy advisor and as the Commerce Department’s tech industry Director of Economic Development.
Joseph is a former executive at Microsoft who led teams in software engineering, sales engineering, and consulting. He was the CTO for Microsoft’s $24 billion enterprise sales division and ran the customer success program for Microsoft’s Global Accounts program. Prior to Microsoft, Joseph led one of the Advanced Internet Practices at Sun Microsystems. Dr. Williams was also once the dean of the School of Business, Government, and Economics at Seattle Pacific University and was once a tenured associate professor in the College of Business at Colorado State University. Professor Williams’ research focus was on search engines, networking, and computer architectures. He is currently an associate editor for IEEE Computing and the area editor for Computing Architectures. Dr. Williams earned a BA in Rhetoric from UC-Berkeley, an MA in Communication Arts from UW-Madison, an MBA from UT-Austin, and a PhD in Management Science from UT-Austin.