Lea M. Williams

Lea M. Williams received her B.A. in comparative literature from the American University of Paris and her M.A. and Ph.D. in comparative literature from the University of Oregon. Her dissertation topic about the literature of war, though she did not realize it at the time, would prepare her to take a position at Norwich University. She has regularly taught courses in military literature and other war-related courses, including special topics on women and war, World War I, and the Vietnam War — once taking students to Vietnam for a three-week study trip.

Her interest in World War I also constitutes part of her research. She has published articles in Nursing History Review and the UK Association for the History of Nursing about Ellen N. La Motte. In the Fall of 2019, she published a book-length biography of La Motte, a 1902 graduate of the Johns Hopkins Training School for Nurses, an expert in combating tuberculosis, a nurse in a French military hospital during World War I, and an anti-opium crusader, with Manchester University Press. Professor Williams has also written several short pieces about La Motte’s life and work, including an encyclopedia entry in the American National Biography “La Motte, Ellen Newbold” and several blog pieces, one for the Barbara Bates Center for the History of Nursing and another for Women’s History Network.

In addition to teaching and scholarship, Professor Williams has taken on increasingly advanced administrative roles at Norwich. Beginning in 2014, She served as the Faculty Development Coordinator where she oversaw Norwich’s Faculty Development program, providing scholarship funding and teaching support for faculty. Associate Provost Williams also served as Interim Dean of the College of Liberal Arts for five months in 2017. She served as Chair of the Department of English and Communications from 2017 - 2021. After serving as the Associate Provost for Educational Effectiveness in 2022 - 23, she was recently promoted to Senior Associate Provost.

Ph.D. Comparative Literature, University of Oregon
M.A.  Comparative Literature, University of Oregon
B.A. Comparative Literature, the American University of Paris