November 22, 2025
Dr. Williams has constructed a profession that blends rigorous analysis, training, and an unwavering dedication to increasing illustration in her area.
When Dr. RoDina L. Williams appears again on her tutorial beginnings at Illinois State College, she remembers a spot that nurtured her ambition and helped outline her objective. In an interview with Illinois State College on Nov. 19, Williams opened up about her journey. Now acknowledged as the primary Black individual in Illinois to earn a Doctorate in Scientific Laboratory Science (DCLS), Williams has constructed a profession that blends rigorous analysis, training, and an unwavering dedication to increasing illustration in her area.
“Illinois State actually formed who I’m as an individual,” she mentioned. “It’s the place I found my ardour and love for analysis, appreciated the significance of mentorship, and gained the self-assurance to goal greater than I beforehand thought I may.”
Williams started her journey as a switch scholar, drawn to the college’s sturdy kinesiology program and the regular help she felt from school. The sense of group remained so highly effective that she later returned to finish a second bachelor’s diploma in medical laboratory science. “I discovered the identical sense of group and objective once I returned,” she recalled. “That fidelity mentioned so much about the kind of place ISU is.”
All through her research, school members performed a pivotal function in shaping her tutorial path. She credit Dr. Pete Smith from the College of Kinesiology and Recreation as the primary individual to introduce her to formal analysis. Dr. Dale Brown, she mentioned, helped her perceive how connecting classes to lived experiences made studying “simpler to study and extra memorable.” She even jokes that she “borrowed” his educating fashion as a result of it resonated together with her and her college students.
Her transition into medical laboratory science supplied one other layer of mentorship. Williams says Dr. Lori Woeste helped her grasp the interconnectedness of the self-discipline’s many subspecialties. And Dr. Beverly Barham, a long-standing mentor, regularly inspired her to pursue alternatives that pushed her ahead within the area.
Attaining her DCLS diploma turned each a milestone and a accountability. “It means so much to me to be the primary Black individual in Illinois to obtain a doctorate in medical laboratory science,” she mentioned. She emphasizes that the achievement goes past private accomplishment—it’s about making area for younger scientists who hardly ever see themselves mirrored in laboratory drugs. “There are nonetheless only a few Black professionals, and that lack of illustration could make it laborious for college kids of coloration to see themselves within the area. So, for me, incomes this diploma was about opening doorways and exhibiting what is feasible.”
Williams sees mentorship as central to her mission. “My success will not be solely a mirrored image of my laborious work but in addition a testomony to the facility of illustration in a area the place professionals of coloration stay considerably underrepresented,” she mentioned. Her involvement with the Black Colleagues Affiliation at Illinois State is a technique she continues to offer again.
Outdoors her tutorial {and professional} duties, she strives for stability as a scholar, mom, and advocate. “I’ve discovered that stability doesn’t all the time imply the whole lot is completely even; it means being current the place I’m,” she mentioned. Her son, Kien John, retains that perspective grounded. She laughs that her household reminds her she doesn’t all the time need to be “Dr. Williams”—typically she merely must be RoDina.
Right this moment, Williams leads medical laboratory packages at Metropolis Schools of Chicago, overseeing instructional, medical, and administrative operations. Requested to summarize her path, she selected three phrases: “Difficult, rewarding, honored.” And for her, Illinois State stays a cornerstone of that journey—a spot that formed her, supported her, and set the stage for the whole lot that adopted.
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