Jennifer Scott Williams

Jennifer Scott Williams was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. As part of an Air Force family, she moved frequently. She graduated with honors from Bay High School in Panama City, Florida, in 1996. Williams attended Spelman College and Georgia Institute of Technology, where she received dual bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and electrical engineering in 2001.

She joined NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston as a space shuttle flight controller in the Instrumentation and Communications Group (INCO), part of Mission Operations. She earned eight certifications and supported 24 shuttle flights, including three as lead INCO. She earned a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Houston in 2005.

Williams completed a rotation in the JSC Office of Education as manager of the Minority University Research and Education Program. She managed eight Johnson programs that provided research opportunities to students at minority-serving institutions.

She served as the communications operations lead for the Boeing Commercial Crew Mission Operations Team. She was the operations focal point for communications, command, and telemetry development for the Starliner spacecraft.

In 2015, she joined the International Space Station Program as a research portfolio manager (RPM), where she managed the life sciences portfolio and the integration activities that enabled payloads to launch to and return from the space station.

In 2020, Williams was selected as branch chief of the Applications Client Support Office, where she managed a team of RPMs responsible for enabling technology demonstrations, STEM projects, and commercial and external payloads for launch, operations aboard the space station, and return to Earth. 

In 2024, she completed a one-year detail as the technical assistant for integration, supporting Johnson Director Vanessa Wyche.

Williams now serves as deputy director of the Business Development and Technology Integration Office (BDTI), the front door to Johnson for traditional and new space partners. The office focuses on capturing and developing new capabilities for human exploration. It is also responsible for open innovation discovery, early-stage technology integration, and technology transfer, licensing, and intellectual property management. BDTI advances human exploration and drives progress toward a sustainable future for all. As deputy director, Williams continues to support the center director’s staff, specifically helping with strategic planning and the management and integration of technical, mission support, and communications activities. She supervises the workforce and oversees a portfolio that spans five key areas: Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation, Partnership Pursuits and Opportunity Formulation, Technology Integration, Technology Transfer, and Business Integration.