Outstanding Faculty Mentor of Doctoral Students

The Outstanding Faculty Mentor of Doctoral Students Award is presented each Spring at the May Doctoral Hooding and Commencement Ceremony.  This award honors one-on-one mentoring of doctoral students through the direction of a dissertation and supervision of students’ research.  All members of the graduate faculty who mentor doctoral students to the completion of the degree are eligible to be nominated by their chair, colleagues, or graduate students.

Dr. Bronwyn Williams is Professor of English and Endowed Chair in Rhetoric and Composition at the University of Louisville, where he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in Rhetoric and Composition.  He received his M.A. (1989) and Ph.D. (2000) in English from the University of New Hampshire.  Dr. Williams came to the University of Louisville in 2000 as an Assistant Professor of English, after teaching as an adjunct instructor at various colleges. He is the author of numerous articles in composition studies, literacy studies, writing center studies, and popular culture studies, as well as the author or editor of eight books, including Literacy Practices and Perceptions of Agency (Routledge, 2018) and Literacies in Times of Disruption: Living and Learning During a Pandemic (Routledge, in press).  He was a Fulbright scholar at the University of Sheffield in 2013 and a Visiting Professor at Pavlodar State University (Kazakhstan) in 2014.  He is the recipient of a Spencer Foundation Grant for his “Global Climate Change Education Initiative” (2019-2022).  He was the Director of the University Writing Center at UofL from 2011 to 2023.  

Since coming to UofL in 2000, Dr. Williams has supervised 37 Ph.D. dissertations in Rhetoric and Composition at UofL, with one more doctoral advisee slated for a defense in Spring 2024. In addition, he is currently directing at least five other dissertations in progress. Not only has Dr. Williams mentored over 25% of the doctorates in English since 2004, but the quality of his mentoring is exceptional according to his nominator. One of his doctoral graduates who is a faculty member at another institution had this to say about Dr. Williams: “He is the gold standard for graduate mentorship. While working on my dissertation, Dr. Williams not only offered his vast knowledge of our discipline, but support, empathy, and genuine interest—he takes the time to understand students’ material realities, and how this can affect our research.” Other students mentored by Dr. Williams note his ability to “instill confidence and direction” and claim he “models a career of character, joy, and service.” Another recent graduate expressed his gratitude for the support he received from Dr. Williams in research, teaching, and job-seeking: “I would not have been able to navigate the academic landscape as an international student nor become successful in research, teaching, and service without Dr. Williams’ mentorship and guidance. Whenever I had questions or concerns about graduate school, dissertation research, academic publishing, or the job market, he made time to meet with me. Dr. Williams’ mentorship has played (and continues to play) a pivotal role in shaping my personal, academic, and professional trajectory, and I am grateful for the privilege of working under his guidance.” Additionally, while serving as the Director of the Writing Center, Dr. Williams was an exemplary partner to the Graduate School, leading and supporting workshops on graduate writing and directing the Graduate School-sponsored Annual Dissertation Writing Retreat. Dr. Williams is certainly a deserving recipient of this award.