Charles Murray Williams

Charles Murray Williams, 91, died September 5, 2023, in Atlanta, Georgia after a brief illness. The son of Brig. Gen. Robert Parvin Williams and Barbara Murray Williams, Charles was born at Ft. Bliss, Texas, on December 26, 1931, and attended the Virginia Military Institute, where he majored in Physics and graduated first in his class in 1953, winning the Jackson-Hope Medal for academic excellence. While working in New Mexico as a physicist for the United States Air Force and later the Sandia Corporation, Charles became interested in the then-emerging field of computer science. He went on to earn a Master’s degree in computer science from Stanford University in 1962 and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Texas in 1966, then taught at Pennsylvania State University (1966-72), Virginia Polytechnic Institute (1972-75), and Georgia State University School of Business (1975-2001). He published numerous research papers on topics relating to data compression, pattern recognition and other problems in computer graphics, and was a popular teacher with graduates and undergraduates.

Charles was a passionate rock climber in his 20s and 30s, summiting major peaks in the American West, and was in the 12th party to summit Ship Rock in northern New Mexico. He led mountain rescue teams in the Sandia Mountains for several years and in 2010 wrote Crash of TWA Flight 260, published by the University of New Mexico Press, a first-hand account of a TWA plane’s crash into the mountains which killed sixteen people, the ensuing rescue operation and investigation into its cause.

At the age of 56, after training for the Peachtree Road Race by running up Kennesaw Mountain in his hiking boots, Charles took up competitive running and, later, race-walking. Within a few years, he was winning his age group in national events. He was an enthusiastic member of the Atlanta Track Club for many years.

Blessed with endless curiosity and a spirit of adventure, Charles loved good conversation and investigating topics ranging from geology to family history, archeology to polar exploration. Most recently he was working to find a mathematical solution to a number of yet unsolved visual illusion phenomena.

Charles loved his family and friends. He is survived by his devoted wife of 66 years, Stanley Bright Williams; his daughter, Margaret Allen Williams Lippincott, her sons Charles Williams Becker and Henry Graham Becker, and her husband, Joseph Wharton Lippincott, III, and children, Catherine Ann Lippincott and Joseph Winfield Lippincott; his son, Robert Parvin Williams, children Robert Dare Williams and Mary Austin Williams, wife Daphne Dixon Shannon Williams, and her daughter Mackenzie Leigh Shannon; and his daughter, Mary Williams Bondurant and husband, Ward Scott Bondurant, and their sons Samuel Linton Bondurant and John Palmer Bondurant. Grandson Robert Dare Williams and his wife, Caroline Brzozowiczc Williams, gave birth to Charles’ first greatgrandchild, Catherine Stanley Williams, earlier this year.

A private memorial family service will be held at the Cathedral of St. Philip.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to Virginia Military Institute or Georgia State University or the charity of your choice.