Rod Williams is vice provost for Outreach and Engagement, Texas Tech University. He provides leadership for developing programs that support the scholarship of engagement. Dr. Williams previously served as assistant provost for engagement at Purdue University. He was also the project lead for Purdue’s Advancement of Research Impact in Society (PARIS), working with a team of research and engagement faculty and staff to enhance institutional capacity to support research impacts in communities. In his role as a Provost Fellow, he co-authored The Guide: Documenting, Evaluating and Recognizing Engaged Scholarship. In addition to Williams’ engagement work, his research interests include the ecology and conservation of amphibians and reptiles, specifically eastern hellbenders. Dr. Williams served as the vertebrate curator and coordinator of laboratory instruction at Purdue before joining the faculty in 2008. He has also received numerous teaching awards, including the Charles B. Murphy Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award, the PK-12 Emerging Faculty Impact Award and the Outstanding Early Career Award, and has been inducted into Purdue’s Book of Great Teachers. He received a B.S. in Wildlife Science, M.S. in Conservation Genetics, and Ph.D. in Evolutionary Genetics from Purdue University.