Scott Alan Williams

Scott Alan Williams is an Associate Professor at New York University, affiliated with the Center for the Study of Human Origins and the New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology. He holds honorary research status at the Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand. His primary roles include directing the Master’s in Science program in Human Skeletal Biology and teaching courses such as Human Evolution, Human Origins, and graduate-level methods in paleoanthropology. Williams is a leading evolutionary morphologist and paleoanthropologist specializing in the evolution of positional behavior across hominoids, with a focus on the vertebral column and bipedalism.

Education:

• Ph.D. in Anthropology from University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (2011)
• M.A. in Anthropology from Northern Illinois University (2006)
• B.A. in Anthropology from Kent State University (2003)

Research Interests: Williams examines evolutionary transitions in hominoid fossils from 20 million-year-old apes to modern humans, emphasizing postcranial skeletal adaptations. His work explores the anatomical basis of upright posture, bipedalism, and spinal evolution in hominins like Australopithecus sediba and Homo naledi. He employs large comparative datasets and 3D modeling to analyze vertebral morphology, spinal pathology, and locomotor behavior.

Scientific Awards:

• 2016 Golden Dozen Teaching Award (NYU College of Arts and Sciences)
• 2016 Manchester High School Distinguished Alumni Award
• 2015 Goddard Junior Faculty Fellowship (NYU)
• 2018 Sigma Xi Nomination

Advising & Grants: Currently advises PhD students studying Miocene ape evolution, bipedalism, and morphological plasticity (Monica Avilez, Jordan Guerra, Madelynne Dudas, Xue Wang, Ailis Daly, Monica Msechu). His grants include Leakey Foundation funding for hominin lordosis studies. Recent projects include spinal analysis of early hominins and the last common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees.

Labs/Teams: Collaborates with multidisciplinary teams in fossil digitization and analysis, including work at Rising Star Cave (South Africa) and the Sterkfontein Caves. Leads projects involving global comparative datasets and morphological modeling techniques.