Faculty Profile for Dr. Miriam F Williams

profile photo for Dr. Miriam F Williams
Dr. Miriam F Williams
Professor — English
Scholarly/Creative Work
Awards
Grants
Service

Biography Section

Biography and Education

 Dr. Miriam F. Williams is a Professor of English in Texas State University's Department of English. She holds a B.S. in Economics and an M.A. in Public Administration from the University of Houston, an M.A. in Technical Communication from Texas State University, and a Ph.D. in Technical Communication & Rhetoric from Texas Tech University. Before joining Texas State University's Department of English in 2004, she worked 8 years for State of Texas agencies as a caseworker, health and safety investigator, policy analyst, policy writer/editor, and program administrator of rules & regulations. Her books and articles focus on public policy writing, plain language, race and ethnicity, and archival research. Her publications include articles in Technical Communication, Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, Journal of Business and Technical Communication, Technical Communication Quarterly, IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, and Programmatic Perspectives. Her co-edited book with Dr. Octavio Pimentel, Communicating Race, Ethnicity, and Identity in Technical Communication, received CCCC’s 2016 Best Original Collection of Essays in Scientific and Technical Communication award and her co-authored article with Dr. Natasha Jones won the CCCC’s 2020 Best Article Reporting Historical Research or Textual Studies in Technical award. She was elevated to Fellow of the Association of Teachers of Technical Writing in 2017, received the 2022 Association for Computing Machinery's Special Interest Group on Design of Communication (SIGDOC) Rigo Award, the Society for Technical Communication’s 2023 Ken Rainey Distinguished Research award, and serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Society for Technical Communication's journal, Technical Communication.

Research Interests

 Technical and Scientific Communication, Plain Language, Professional Editing, Public Policy Writing, Archival Research, Race & Technical Communication

Selected Scholarly/Creative Work

  • Jones, N. N., & Williams, M. F. (2022). Archives, Rhetorical Absence, and Critical Imagination: Examining Black Women’s Mental Health Narratives at Virginia’s Central State Hospital. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 65(1). https://doi.org/10.1109/TPC.2022.3140883
  • Williams, M. F. (2022). Gun Control and Gun Rights: A Conceptual Framework for Analyzing Public Policy Issues in Technical and Professional Communication. Technical Communication Quarterly, 31(1), 33–43. https://doi.org/10.1080/10572252.2021.1963487
  • Jones, N. N., & Williams, M. F. (2018). Technologies of Disenfranchisement: Literacy tests and Black voters in the U.S. from 1890-1965. Technical Communication, Volume 65(Issue 4).
  • Williams, M. F., & Jones, N. N. (2017). The Social Justice Impact of Plain Language: A Critical Approach to Plain Language Analysis. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Transactions on Professional Communication Journal, 412–429. https://doi.org/10.1109/TPC.2017.2762964
  • Williams, M. F., & Pimentel, O. (2014). Communicating Race, Ethnicity, and Identity in Technical Communication. Amityville, NY: Baywood Technical Communications Book Series-Routledge.

Selected Awards

  • Award / Honor Recipient: 2023 Ken Rainey Award for Distinguished Research, Society for Technical Communication. May 16, 2023
  • Award / Honor Recipient: 2022 Rigo Award Winner (ACM-SIGDOC), Association for Computing Machinery's Special Interest Group (SIG) on Design of Communication. October 6, 2022
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Best Article Reporting Historical Research or Textual Studies in Technical and Scientific Communication Natasha N. Jones and Miriam F. Williams, “Technologies of Disenfranchisement: Literacy Tests and Black Voters in the US from 1890 to 1965,” Technical Communication, 2018, CCCC Technical and Scientific Communication Awards. March 2020
  • Award / Honor Recipient: 2017 Elevated to Fellow of the Association of Teachers of Technical Writing, Association of Teachers of Technical Writing. March 15, 2017
  • Award / Honor Recipient: 2016 CCCC Technical and Scientific Communication Award in the category of Best Original Collection of Essays in Technical or Scientific Communication for Communicating Race, Ethnicity, and Identity in Technical Communication, Conference on College Composition and Communication. January 1, 2014 - January 1, 2016

Selected Grants

  • Williams, Miriam F (Co-Principal), Jones, Bronte (Co-Principal). Hearst Foundation Scholarship at Huston-Tillotson University, William Randolph Hearst Foundation, $100000. (Funded: 2002). Grant.
  • Williams, Miriam F (Co-Principal), Bud, Eric (Co-Principal). “UNCF Professional Development Grant” at Huston-Tillotson University, United Negro College Fund, Other, $99000. (Funded: 2002). Grant.
  • Williams, Miriam F (Co-Principal), Russ, Muchere (Co-Principal), Hudson, Julie (Co-Principal). “Reaching Back to Discover” at Huston-Tillotson University, $50000. (Funded: 2002). Grant.
  • Williams, Miriam F (Co-Principal), Smith, Terry (Co-Principal). “UNCF Technology Grant” at Huston-Tillotson University, United Negro College Fund, $142000. (Funded: 2002). Grant.

Selected Service Activities

Editor
Editor-in-Chief of the Society for Technical Communication's journal, Technical Communication
December 1, 2020-Present
Member
Editor of Texas State's Successful Phi Beta Kappa Chapter Application
November 1, 2021-January 31, 2022
Director
Master of Arts in Technical Communication (MATC) Program
January 2013-August 2018
Member
Presidential Fellow: Co-authored Texas State's successful proposal for reclassification to Emerging Research University.
September 2011-September 2012
Member
AI and Honor Code Task Force
August 15, 2024-Present