May 28, 2025 | Erin Bluvas, bluvase@sc.edu

Russell Pate remembers the first time he met Harriet Williams, who passed away this year, back in 1980. The exercise science professor was then a member of the College of Health and Physical Education, which was looking for a new chair.

“Harriet was the outstanding candidate among the many wonderful applicants we interviewed,” Pate says. “She was not only a great chair and representative of the department, but she led the establishment of the motor development academic program. She was also an exceptional scholar and a wonderful person.”

Williams chaired the department during a difficult transition period when many of the faculty wanted to migrate to USC’s School of Public Health, which was formed in 1975 and would be named the Arnold School of Public Health in 2000. Pate credits her with paving the way for the formation of the Department of Exercise Science when it joined the School of Public Health in 1989.

One of the six founding members was Larry Durstine, a newly minted assistant professor whom Williams mentored at the University of Toledo, where he was a student and she was a faculty member. Years later, Durstine would take on the role of department chair, flipping their roles.

“Harriet was just a good person, and we had many memorable years working together,” Durstine says. “She was always direct and honest but never went beyond that. She was someone who was able to give you a message you might not want to hear in a way that was very acceptable.”

Pate and Durstine remember her Perceptual Motor Development Lab as a unique setting where children with movement difficulties could receive treatment that was not previously available in the Midlands area. The lab also provided an excellent training ground for students to gain clinical experience. In alignment with this work, Williams also served as director of the Arnold School’s Good Bodies program, which improved health for children and their families for decades.

While her specialty was working with children, Williams looked at movement across the lifespan and was also known for her work in preventing and reducing falls among older adults. Her Stay in Balance program was implemented at local nursing home facilities before it was copyrighted and made available to the masses. In 1998, she won the school’s Faculty Research Award for her work in these areas.

Gerhild Ullman was a student of Williams during the mid-2000s in the Ph.D. in Exercise Science program. Williams was a mentor to her during her time at the Arnold School and the pair continued publishing together after Ullman’s 2008 graduation when she took a faculty position at the University of Memphis’ School of Public Health.

“Dr. Williams influenced my professional growth with her profound knowledge of motor development and motor control across the life span,” Ullman says. “She provided opportunities to obtain practical skills based on implementation science and encouraged me to follow my passion for research with less conventional approaches. Her expertise significantly influenced my academic work during my time at USC and afterwards.”

After retiring in 2011, Williams continued her decades-long pastime of supporting Gamecocks sports and enjoying time with her husband and their cats. She remained a great model for active aging in both movement and creativity, publishing books and becoming a blogger.