Barbara A. Williams is an American radio astronomer and the first African-American woman to earn a PhD in astronomy (University of Maryland, College Park, 1981). Her research largely focused on compact galaxy groups, in particular observations of their emissions in the H I region in order to build up a larger scale picture of the structure and evolution of galaxies. Williams was named as the Outstanding Young Woman of America in 1986 and is currently a retired Associate Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Delaware.