25th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Leadership Award (1999)
Richard Williamson, Alum Award
Richard Williamson, who earned the SB at MIT in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in 1985 and a master’s degree from the Harvard University School of Education, teaches in a “last chance” alternative program in Boston. He shares his home with members of God’s Posse, a group of young men who have chosen to become productive members of their community. As an undergraduate, he was president of Black Students in Electrical Engineering and a member of Tau Beta Pi.
In nominating Mr. Williamson, Raymond E. Samuel, a research fellow and physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, said, “The guy has laid down his life for something he has a passion for. Instead of asking what can America do for me — big job, big car, big house — Richard simply has done something that will benefit America in the long run.”
Mr. Williamson noted Dr. King’s observation that a life is not worth living until a person “finds something worth dying for.” In his own case, Mr. Williamson said, “I found in these young men, on the streets of Boston, something worth dying for.” [MIT News Office, 10 Feb 1999]
A month after receiving the MLK Leadership Award, he also received a Heroes Among Us award from the Boston Celtics at the FleetCenter.