Dr. Asher Williams is a Trinidad and Tobago national scholar and currently a Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow at Cornell University where her research is aimed at cell-free biosynthesis of conjugate vaccines against emerging pathogens. She is also a part of a global team of scientists and vaccine experts working with the United Nations to help promote confidence around COVID-19 vaccines. Her graduate research focused on engineering bacterial production systems to generate pain-relieving compounds and anticoagulant drugs. Dr. Williams was awarded RPI’s Presidential Graduate Research Fellowship and during her graduate career she mentored several students, presented at research conferences, and published 12 co-authored papers in peer-reviewed journals, with a pending patent. She served as vice president of the Black Graduate Students Association at RPI, working on several initiatives to increase the recruitment and retention of minoritized students in graduate education. Dr. Williams was named an RPI Class of 2020 Changemaker and is listed as one of 1000 Inspiring Black Scientists in America and a 2020 MIT Rising Star in Chemical Engineering.