Former Vanderbilt athletic director David Williams passes away
Former Vanderbilt athletics director David Williams died Friday, Vanderbilt University has confirmed.
Williams served as Vanderiblt's athletic director until leaving that position as Malcolm Turner took over one week ago on Friday, Feb. 1.
A retirement party for Williams had been scheduled for Friday night at Vanderbilt's Student Life Center at 6 p.m.
Williams was the first African-American athletics director in SEC history. He oversaw unprecedented athletic success at Vanderbilt.
Williams considered looking after the interest of his student-athletes as his top priority. He took pride in helping VU athletes behind the scenes, whether that be in setting up internships or acting as a mentor.
A lawyer by trade, Williams was a faculty member at the VU law school. Williams was brilliant at drawing up and negotiating contracts, and was a guiding influence in business deals that led to the biggest financial boon in Southeastern Conference history.
“David Williams stood tall on this campus, in this city and in college athletics nationally as an incomparable leader, role model and dear friend to me and so many others," chancellor Nick Zeppos said in a VU press release. "We are devastated by this loss. His impact on our community is immeasurable and will be felt for generations to come. We offer our deepest condolences to Gail, his children and the entire Williams family on this immense loss.”
“The Vanderbilt family is saddened to learn of the passing of David Williams," Turner added. "David authored a remarkable legacy at Vanderbilt, one defined by blazing trails and championing the student-athlete. In my short time at Vanderbilt, I was fortunate to have cultivated a friendship with David, who most proudly coveted his role as a husband and father. All of Commodore Nation mourns the loss of David, and our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Gail, his four children, his six grandchildren, and his great-grandson.”
Williams announced on Sept. 18, 2018 that he was stepping down. He was officially named the VU AD in 2013, however, Williams had served unofficially in that capacity since 2003, when Vanderbilt dismissed then-AD Todd Turner.
The highlight of Williams' tenure was the fact that several of Vanderbilt's programs became national powers.
The most notable came in baseball. In 2004, Vanderbilt made its first NCAA Tournament appearance, winning the Charlottesville Regional. By 2007, the program won the Southeastern Conference title and was No. 1 most of the regular season. In 2014, VU defeated Virginia to win the national title and came within a game of repeating in 2015.
Williams oversaw massive renovations and expansion to Hawkins Field, including the addition of a $12 million baseball facility in left field, and a smaller clubhouse building near the bullpen. His bigger feat may have been keeping coach Tim Corbin from taking jobs at Auburn and LSU--at the time, both bigger programs than VU--and later, Oregon.
Women's bowling, led by John Williamson--another Williams hire--won the first national title in school history seven years before the one in baseball, followed by another in 2018.
In 2015, women's tennis won its first national title, and finished national runner up last spring.
Both golf programs have had success on a national stage, and women's soccer won the SEC this past season.
Even football has seen some success. VU went to its first bowl game (2008) since 1982, and followed it up with trips in 2011-13, 2016 and 2018. The 2012 and 2013 teams--coached by James Franklin, who was also his hire--finished in the Top 25.
Williams also presided at VU at a time when the league expanded by two (Missouri, Texas A&M) and launched the SEC Network in 2014. Those developments helped the league, which announced the distribution of $627.1 million for the 2017-18 school year, generate record amounts of revenue.
However, Williams considered his work of re-connecting Perry Wallace with the Vanderbilt community as his proudest accomplishment. Wallace became the SEC's first African-American scholarship basketball player in 1967.
The news was first reported by 104.5 The Zone's Midday 180 show on Friday, just minutes before 1 p.m. Show host Jonathan Hutton reported seeing an internal memo from Vanderbilt, with a time stamp of 12:38 that Williams passed away at Vanderbilt Medical Center.
