NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Timothy L. Williams is a research test pilot at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif.

In that position he flies airborne science and test aircraft and is a team member on test programs, supporting mission planning, procedures and safety-related operational elements. He is qualified to fly a diverse array of science, research and mission support aircraft at NASA Dryden, including the ER-2 high-altitude science aircraft, the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) 747SP, Gulfstream III, YO-3A, Global Hawk remotely controlled aircraft, T-38 and T-34. Williams is also assigned as project pilot for the Environmentally Responsible Aviation project, the SOFIA program and the Global Hawk Pacific Mission, or GloPac, mission.

Williams began work at NASA Dryden in September 2008, following an extensive flying career in the U.S. Air Force. Among NASA science deployments on which he has flown are those to Greenland, Iceland and Costa Rica in NASA's Gulfstream III carrying the UAVSAR synthetic aperture radar system.

Now retired from the U.S. Air Force with the rank of lieutenant colonel, during his military career he served as a C-130 commander during multiple campaigns; a U-2 pilot; an instructor at the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base and a U-2 instructor pilot at Beale Air Force Base, Calif.; and a project pilot on the Edwards-based airborne laser program. He was commander of U-2 Programmed Depot Maintenance and Flight Test, Palmdale, Calif., from 2005-2008.

Williams holds bachelor's and master's degrees in electrical engineering, both from the California Institute of Technology. He is a member of the Order of Daedalians, a fraternal order of U.S. military pilots and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

March 2010