Curtis D. Williams
Program Scientist
Curtis D. Williams (he/him/his) is a Program Scientist in the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters.
He leads the Emerging Worlds program which supports research related to the formation and early evolution of our solar system and is a caucus member of the Laboratory Analysis of Returned Samples program that solicits the development of laboratory instrumentation and/or advanced techniques required for the analysis of returned samples and direct analysis of samples already returned to Earth.
Prior to joining NASA Headquarters, Curtis was a Program Officer at the National Science Foundation, where he oversaw various Geoscience funding programs that address some of our nation’s most pressing needs e.g., climate change, clean energy, and natural hazards.
He was a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California-Davis where his research explored the formation of Earth’s atmosphere to its deep interior. He received his Ph.D. from Arizona State University as a NASA Earth and Space Science Fellow, where his research focused on deciphering the formation and evolutionary history of our solar system.
Curtis obtained a B.S. and M.S. from Indiana University-Bloomington in the Geological Sciences with a focus on economic geology. His studies are both discipline-specific and multidisciplinary in nature, and, in many instances, require close collaboration across STEM fields.
Curtis is a life-long learner, currently working towards his Executive Certificate in Management and Leadership from the MIT Sloan School of Management and is passionate about fostering a culture of discovery and ingenuity through the multiple lens’ of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Please direct questions or corrections on this page to SARA@nasa.gov