Robert Champ Williams

Following his freshman year at the University of Arkansas, Champ followed his passion for cinematography to Southern California where he soon found his second love; the ocean. An avid outdoorsman from a young age, Champ took to the underwater kelp forests of the Channel Islands as effortlessly as he had the Ozark forests of his youth.

Champ honed his skills in the film and video production program of Brooks Institute of Photography while concurrently attending California State University, Northridge, as a marine biology major, and Ventura College as a trade machinist. In 2006, he received his B.A. cum laude from Brooks. In 2007, Champ accepted an undergraduate research scholarship from the National Science Foundation, which relocated him to Shannon Point Marine Center of Western Washington University. In 2008, Champ returned to Southern California to complete his marine biology degree from CSUN.

In 2008, at the age of 25, Champ received his greatest honor : two Emmy nominations for a pair of natural history segments he photographed in Puget Sound. He went on to win for producing “The Secret Weapon.” In the next few years, Champ received over 30 industry awards for his natural history productions including Best Picture at the North Sea Film Festival in Holland, the Demitri Rebikoff Award for Technical Achievement at the World Festival of Underwater Images in France, and the Stan Waterman Award for Excellence in Underwater Cinematography. His work has been featured in film festivals and television broadcasts all over the world.

Like his education, Champ's diving background was diverse. Champ served four years on the Ventura County Sheriff's Department Underwater Search and Rescue Dive Team enhancing his diving and rescue skills through regular training and deployment. Champ was a National Association of Underwater Instructors (NAUI) certified SCUBA instructor and was certified on various rebreather systems through the International Association of Nitrox and Technical Divers.

In 2009, Champ returned to Arkansas to begin work on a passion project entitled “Ozarks Underwater.” However, not long after returning, he was presented the opportunity to develop a video production department at the University of Arkansas in Fort Smith; an opportunity he readily accepted. A fervent lifelong learner, Champ completed his masters of science in operations management from the University of Arkansas in 2011, and currently managed the multimedia productions at UAFS while promoting his personal production company.

"Through my work I am exposed to organisms and interactions no person has ever seen before. But they still happen . . . when nobody is looking . . . as they have for millennia. Every creature propelled forward by forces they do not comprehend. Their interactions with each other an elegant dance choreographed through the ages. Sometimes while I watch, I loose sense of time and place. It's these moments I find both prolific and perpetually humbling; for if I never see the face of God, if I never find the answers, through my work, I at least find purpose and repose. This is the basis for my profound respect for the natural world and the foundation of my creative work." Champ Williams

Champ is survived by his mother, Lisa Hinton of Fort Smith; his father, Johnny Williams and his wife Karen of Fort Smith; one sister, Whitney Ashing of Fort Smith; Maternal Grandparents, Champ and Carol Hinton of Fort Smith; his girlfriend, Taylor Smith of Mansfield, AR; one step-sister, Carly Collyge of Fort Smith; one step-brother, Luke Weatherford of Fort Smith; and his nephew, Easton John Ashing of Fort Smith.

Funeral Service will be 2:00 P.M. Thursday, November 12, 2015 in the Sanctuary of First United Methodist Church with burial to follow in Roselawn Cemetery, all under the direction of Edwards Funeral Home.

Pallbearers will be: Landon Frye, Chris Green, Stacy Jones, Matt Vangjel, Dustin Collyge, and Luke Weatherford.

Visitation will Wednesday, November 11, 2015, from 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM at Edwards Funeral Home Chapel.

Memorials may be sent to: Robert Champ Williams Endowment c/o Janet Huckabee Arkansas River Valley Nature Center, 8300 Wells Lake Road, Fort Smith, AR 72916.