Aaron Williams Returns to RTI International to Lead International Development Group

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Oct 23, 2012, 02:50 ET

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., Oct. 23, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Aaron Williams, former vice president of international business development at RTI International and, most recently, Director of the U.S. Peace Corps, will return to RTI as executive vice president of the International Development Group starting Monday, Oct. 29.

"Aaron Williams is the ideal person to lead our global development programs as we go forward," said RTI President and CEO Wayne Holden. "He knows our organization, our people and our capabilities, and he is an internationally recognized expert in international development and diplomacy."

Williams, who has served as Peace Corps Director since leaving RTI in 2009, has enjoyed a long and distinguished career in public service and the private sector, which began when he served for three years as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Dominican Republic. During his previous tenure at RTI, from 2003 to 2009, he played a key role in the growth of the International Development Group's work in health, education and democratic governance.

"I have tremendous respect for RTI and its mission to improve the human condition," Williams said. "Through its work around the world to improve health, education, governance and economic opportunity, RTI is improving the lives of people in developing nations."

Prior to his previous tenure at RTI, he served as a senior official at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), where he reached the rank of career minister in the Senior Foreign Service.

He also served as executive vice president of the International Youth Foundation in Baltimore from 1998 to 2002. His awards include the USAID Distinguished Career Service Award in 1998 and the Presidential Award for Distinguished Service in 1988 and 1992.

Williams has also served on the advisory committee on voluntary foreign aid at USAID. He has extensive experience in the strategic design and management of assistance programs in Latin America, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and he has served on the advisory board of the Ron Brown Scholar Program, as well as the boards of directors of CARE, the National Peace Corps Association and the Institute for Sustainable Communities.

SOURCE RTI International