About Me

A Los Angeles native, my path led me from a bachelor's at UCLA to a doctorate at Indiana University Bloomington. Today, I've built a life and career in France with my wonderful wife and our young daughter.

My full name, Rashid Vladimir Williams-García, often sparks curiosity. It's a tapestry of my family's history rather than a straightforward map of my ethnicity. While I do have Spanish and Welsh roots, my identity is deeply rooted in a broader African diaspora and Indigenous Mexican heritage.

A genetic test revealed a mosaic of influences—from West African and Bantu to Basque, Portuguese, and more—a living testament to the complex, often painful, history of the transatlantic slave trade. My name and DNA together tell a story of resilience, convergence, and a uniquely American experience.

My father, a software developer and civil rights activist, was a defining influence in my life. His commitment to cultural reclamation is reflected in the name he gave me, and his passion for engineering ignited my own. From the Lego Mindstorms sets of my childhood to my first college projects with C++ and LabVIEW, he fostered a love for complex systems that now forms the bedrock of my career.