Darlene F. Williams was nominated for the position of Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research by President George W. Bush, and began the job in October 2005. She received a BA from Howard University, an MA and Ph.D from Stanford, and an MBA from the University of Chicago. Williams began her career at Pacific Bell in operations and then worked in marketing management jobs for Eastman Kodak and Ryder Systems. After that, she spent seven years at the energy company TXU, beginning in 1996, first as a “loaned lobbyist” during the 77th Texas Legislative Session, then as Corporate Policy Manager. In 2003 Williams began working at HUD as the General Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research, and after that as General Deputy Assistant Secretary for Administration.