Phillip A. Williams, Ph.D.

Phillip A. Williams, Ph.D., serves as the Program Executive (Acting) and Program Manager for the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Program, the Center Innovation Fund (CIF), and the Early Career Initiative (ECI) within NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD). In this role, Phillip leads complex strategic technology portfolios that span visionary early‑stage concepts, center‑level innovation, and emerging workforce development across NASA’s research centers.

Dr. Williams is an accomplished physicist and aerospace technologist with more than 20 years of experience advancing cutting‑edge aerospace research, strategic technology development, and early‑stage innovation across NASA.  Prior to his current role, Dr. Williams served as the Acting Center Chief Technologist and Center Deputy Chief Technologist at NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC), providing strategic and technical leadership at LaRC for the planning, management, and evaluation of comprehensive advanced center-wide technology development activities to meet LaRC’s vision and mission responsibilities across aeronautics, science, and space exploration. 

Beginning his career at NASA as a postdoctoral researcher, Dr. Williams has held positions including research physicist, acting assistant branch head, and senior systems analyst at LaRC. Dr. Williams has expertise in physics, and his research experience spans structures and materials, nanotechnology, microscopy and molecular spectrology, space mission and system analysis, technology and capability assessment and integration, and in-space assembly. His research accomplishments are documented with 4 patents, over 30 technical publications, an invited book chapter on microscopy, over 40 contributed scientific presentations at national and international conferences, and over 5 invited lectures on nanotechnology.

Across his career, Dr. Williams has demonstrated a consistent commitment to strategic leadership, stakeholder engagement, technology advancement, and creating an environment that cultivates the innovators of tomorrow. His blend of scientific expertise, programmatic insight, and collaborative leadership continues to shape NASA’s trajectory in early‑stage innovation and transformative mission concepts.

Dr. Williams earned a B.S. degree in Physics from the College of William and Mary and M.S. and Ph.D. in Physics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Email: hq-niac@mail.nasa.gov