Dr. Rua M. Williams is an Assistant Professor at Purdue University and a former Just Tech Fellow with the Social Science Research Council (2022-2024). As Principal Investigator of the CoLiberation Lab, Williams conducts research and produces scholarship which centers the experiences of disabled people in technology research, design, policy, and society. Dr. Williams is recognized as an expert in evaluating sociotechnical systems for harms against disabled people. Rua has served as an advisory board member for the Center for Democracy and Technology’s working group on AI and algorithmic bias and the National Disability Institute & New Disabled South’s working group on Disability Rights, Labor, and Technology. technology and labor rights. Dr. Williams maintains a network for neurodiversity inclusion, and has spoken to national audiences about neurodiversity in K-12 education, higher education, and parenting, becoming an active and recognized name in neurodiversity advocacy in the United States. Dr. Williams has been invited to Japan to speak on neurodiversity, education, and technology multiple times in collaboration with the Neurodiversity Potential Organization, the Connected Learning Alliance, and Chiba Institute of Technology. In the summer of 2025, Dr. Williams led a study abroad where design students learned about Japanese history and culture to create designs for neurodiversity inclusion in Japan in collaboration with the Neurodiversity School in Tokyo. Currently, Dr. Williams is a founding and organizing member of NeuPoteKen, an international research community on neurodiversity and connected learning, comprised of academics and practitioners from the US, Japan, and Europe.
