Nebraska Alpha (Nebraska) Phi Joe Williams received Phi Delta Theta’s Legion of Merit Award on September 16. The award honors outstanding members of the Fraternity who have made a lifelong commitment of service to Phi Delta Theta. The recipients of this award are not only living testimony that Phi Delta Theta is a Fraternity for Life, but they are also the men who give this phrase meaning. The presentation occurred at Brother Williams home in Morristown, NJ. Those pictured behind Brother Williams are Brothers J. Paul Price, Stephen J. ‘Tio’ Kleberg and W.L. Gray. Also in attendance for the presentation but not pictured was General Council President Rich Fabritius.
Joseph D. Williams has been chairman of the executive committee of Warner-Lambert’s board of directors since his retirement as the company’s chairman and chief executive officer in 1991. He has also worked as a management consultant for the company since his retirement.
Mr. Williams joined Parke-Davis out of college as a sales representative. He was named group vice president of sales and marketing in 1970. A year later he was named chief operating officer and was appointed president of the company in 1971, a year after Warner-Lambert had acquired it. He moved over to Warner-Lambert in 1975 and was appointed chairman and CEO in 1984.
In 1996, Mr. Willams received Phi Delta Theta’s Nance-Millett Award which recognizes an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the American Free Enterprise System. He became a Trustee of the Phi Delta Theta Foundation since 1997.
Williams chaired a $250 million campaign for the United Negro College Fund. He served as Chairman of the Commission on Higher Education for the State of New Jersey. He has served on the Board of Directors for many firms including AT&T, the Exxon Corporation, J.C. Penney, Inc., Thrift Drug, Inc., Therapeutic Antibodies, Inc., The Wyatt Company, and Rockefeller Financial Services. He has served as a Trustee for the Liberty Science Center and Columbia University.
In 1980, Mr. Williams received the pharmacy profession’s most distinguished award, the Remington Honor Medal from the American Pharmaceutical Association. He has received many honorary degrees including ones from the University of Maryland, Seton Hall University, Long Island University, Rutgers University, the University of Nebraska, and Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science.
