Robert Williams Named to UArizona President’s Senior Leadership Team

This January, University of Arizona Law Regents Professor Robert A. Williams, Jr. joined the University of Arizona Senior Leadership Team, an advisory body to President Robert C. Robbins that helps steer university-wide strategy and decision making.  

The appointment to the Senior Leadership Team is in recognition of Williams’ longstanding service to Native students, faculty and communities. Williams leads the University of Arizona Strategic Plan’s Native American Advancement and Tribal Engagement Initiative, centered at the College of Law. 

As one of the founding faculty members of the Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy (IPLP) Program at University of Arizona Law, Williams has greatly increased the representation of Native and indigenous peoples within the practice of law and legal academia and has led a number of legal advocacy projects to protect the rights of indigenous communities across Arizona and around the world.  

Williams is joined as a recent addition to the Senior Leadership Team by Karen Francis-Begay, assistant vice provost, Native American Initiatives. Francis-Begay will focus on a number of university-wide initiatives to enhance support and programming for Native students and faculty initiatives. 

“I’m honored to be asked by President Robbins to serve on the Senior Leadership Team, and I look forward to working with leaders from across the university community to further support Native students and faculty and to enhance our relationships and service to Native communities across the state,” said Williams. “I am also excited to see Karen Francis-Begay appointed to the Senior Leadership Team. We've worked together closely on the Native American Strategic Plan over the past two years, and no one on campus has done more to advocate for strengthening and enhancing Native-serving initiatives at the university than Karen.”