Carla Williams
Carla Williams
Director of Athletics, University of Virginia
Her Story…
Carla is a first generation college graduate in her family.
She attended the University of Georgia as a student-athlete, earning a degree in Sociology.
Carla was All-SEC, four year letter-winning point guard on the basketball court for Georgia from 1985-1989, before playing professionally in Spain.
She completed her Ph.D in sports administration at Florida State.
Her Career….
After competing at the highest level of intercollegiate athletics, Carla began coaching the sport she loved.
She became an assistant coach at Georgia, bringing the team to the Women’s Final Four in 1995 and 1996.
Carla went on to serve as associate director of athletics at Vanderbilt, before returning to her alma mater to serve as athletics administrator for 13 years.
In 2015 Carla served as the deputy director of athletics at Georgia, managing all aspects of the athletic department.
Making history...
This past year, the University of Virginia introduced Carla Williams as the
school’s new director of athletics.
Carla is the first African American woman to lead an athletic department
at a Power Five school.
Q & A
Who is someone that you look up to?
Growing up there weren’t many female athletes on television, so I couldn’t look to any women there. In life, my mom was a great role model for me, as well as my high school coach and my assistant coach in college. They all love to see young people succeed and were very instrumental in helping me develop as a
person and a player.
What did you love about coaching basketball?
I loved working with student-athletes. As a coach, you not only have a first-hand opportunity to work with them on a daily basis to get better at their sport, but you also have the chance to be a role model to positively influence their goals and pursuits in life.
What has been your greatest reward as your career has developed?
The reason I got into this industry is that it’s a great combination of things I love— education, sports, young people. Being able to influence young people and promote education through sports has been a great reward for me.
" Girls should know there are no limitations because they’re female, there are no limitations if they’re African American. They get to define their destiny."
images provided by UVA