Frank W. Wilson Professor of Economics
B.A., University of the South; Ph.D., Northwestern University
Doug Williams is the Frank W. Wilson Professor of Economics. His Ph.D. in economics is from Northwestern University, where his studies focused on Labor Economics, Industrial Organization and Public Finance. His dissertation committee was chaired by Nobel laureate Dale Mortensen and included Joseph Altonji and
Nobel laureate Joel Mokyr.
Williams’ research has focused on the market for lawyers, local minimum wage
laws, unemployment and affirmative action policies. He has also been involved in examining land use change on the Cumberland Plateau. His teaching interests include labor, U.S. poverty and inequality, law and economics, industrial
organization, finance and econometrics.
From 1997 to 1999, Williams was the economist for the City of Milwaukee where he advised city officials on regional economic, tax, pension, collective bargaining and other policy issues. Williams joined the economics department at Sewanee in 1999 and chaired the department between 2004 and 2014. In 2008, Williams led
the University-wide committee that established the Business Minor and the Babson Center. He was the inaugural chair of the Business Minor in 2008 and served as chair until 2015. Between 2015 and 2025, Williams served as Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer of the University of the South.
