Dean of the W.E.B. Du Bois College House, Patricia C. Williams, is a native of The Bronx, New York where she spent her entire life before relocating to Philadelphia to begin working at the University of Penn in 2001.

Ms. Williams is committed to the principle of life-long learning and as the mother of five worked full-time while attending school full-time, receiving her bachelors degree in English (summa cum laude) from Fordham University in 1986. Her Masters in Liberal Studies, with a concentration in English Literature, is also from Fordham. She is currently a Faculty member in Penn's Critical Writing Program, teaching the course, Black Protest Poetry from Griots to Spoken Word Artists. She is pursuing a doctoral degree in Higher Education Management.

Ms. Trish, as she is called by students, as well as staff, has been in higher education administration for more than 23 years. In addition, she has taught English composition and rhetoric, English literature and grammar. While she enjoys teaching on the college level, her most rewarding teaching experience was a two-year stint with the New York Public Library's Adult Literacy program, where she taught illiterate adults to read and write. She is also a freelance writer who has published poetry, literary essays and book reviews, and is currently working on two books: "New York City Subway Songs" and "Saving Micah: Poems and Stories About My Mother." Her most recent essay, "McCarthyism and its effect on two Historically Black Colleges and Universities in Pennsylvania: Cheyney and Lincoln Universities" will appear as a chapter in a forthcoming book Historically Black Colleges and Universities Triumphs, Troubles and Taboos (New York: Palgrave, 2008).

Dean Williams remains committed to serving her alma mater as a member of the Black and Latino alumni Association. She was recently elected to the Board of Directors of the Johnson House Historical Society. Other professional memberships/associations include the Association of Black Women in Higher Education, Poetry Society of America and the National Association of African American Studies.

She enjoys reading and writing poetry, exercising and baking. In addition to her five adult children. she is the grandmother of six grandchildren, Jordan, 15; Kiamani, 13; Hasani, 11; Jaqueline, 6; Alaysia, 5; and Erica, 3 who call her Omaa. Of her grandchildren she says, "They are truly my proudest accomplishments and I want to be the best "Omaa" in their world".

Critical Writing Class for Spring Semester, beginning Monday, January 9, 2007 from 5:00pm-6:30pm in the Multi Purpose Room at W.E.B. Du Bois College House. This class will be held Monday and Wednesday.