Richard Llewellyn Williams

Vocation

Traits

Family

American math and geography child prodigy who became a diplomat in adulthood. As one of the regular panellists on the popular radio show Quiz Kids from 1940 to 1945, he appeared on more of the shows than any of the others. He had a great ability in math and an amazing fund of general knowledge. Williams served in the United States Army from 1953 to 1955, detailed to the National Security Agency in its early days. He joined the Foreign Service in 1956. Over three decades as a career U.S. diplomat, he opened the first American consulate in mainland China since the 1940s (in Guangzhou, 1979), served as the first U.S. Ambassador to the Mongolian People's Republic from 1988 to 1990 (Diplomatic relations were established with the Mongolian People's Republic in January 1987) and then was named Consul General in Hong Kong from 1990 to 1993. Williams was also director of Chinese affairs at the U.S. State Department during the Tiananmen crisis in 1989. For seven years following his 1994 retirement from the Foreign Service, Williams taught graduate level China-related courses at Columbia and New York Universities. Link to Wikipedia biography