Dr. Richard S. Williams

• Health Director and Medical Consultant, Virginia Department of Health
• Former Senior Aviation Medical Examiner, Federal Aviation Administration
• Former NASA Chief Health and Medical Officer

Dr. Richard S. Williams is a general surgeon and aerospace medicine physician who currently serves as a Health Director and Medical Consultant in the Virginia Department of Health. His duties include serving as a Health Director for Virginia public health districts and providing medical consultation services to public health districts without a physician on staff. Dr. Williams is also a former FAA Senior Aviation Medical Examiner, and still provides aeromedical consultation services for all classes of airmen on request. Previously, he served as NASA’s Chief Health and Medical Officer. He spent twenty seven years in the US Air Force as a general surgeon, flight surgeon, and medical manager and leader, domestically and in contingency operations abroad. 

Dr. Williams was assigned to NASA Headquarters as an Air Force Colonel in 1998. He served as Director of the Office of Health Affairs and entered the Senior Executive Service as NASA’s Chief Health and Medical Officer in 2002. He led NASA’s health care team through the construction and initial operation of the ISS and the final years of the Space Shuttle Program. His responsibilities included leadership; policy, oversight and advocacy for astronaut health care; NASA employee health care, protection of research subjects; and bioethics. During his fifteen-year-tenure, Dr. Williams led efforts to secure legislative authority for beyond-career astronaut health care, implemented Health and Medical Technical Authority, produced policies on ethics-based risk assessment for astronaut health and medical exposures during space flight missions, and fostered cooperative efforts between NASA’s Human Research Program and health care system to better understand space flight-related health risks and mitigations. 

Dr. Williams received a B.S. degree from the College of William and Mary in 1975, as well as an MD degree in 1979 and a Master of Public Health degree in 1996, both from Virginia Commonwealth University. He completed general surgery residency at Wright State University in 1984 and aerospace medicine/occupational health residency at the USAF School of Aerospace Medicine in 1998. He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and maintains certification by the American Board of Preventive Medicine in Aerospace Medicine. His awards and decorations include the Bronze Star medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, the John R. Tamisea Memorial Award, NASA’s Space Flight Awareness Award for Safety, the Melbourne C. Boynton Award, the Seniors Executive Service Presidential Rank Award, the W. Randolph Lovelace Award, the Forrest M. and Pamela Bird Award, the NASA Exceptional Leadership Medal, and the NASA Distinguished Service Medal. He has contributed to and published numerous articles and book chapters in the medical literature.