American Medical Student Association

Dr. Carol Williams-Nickelson leads the day-to-day operations of the Association and the AMSA Foundation. Her executive duties include setting the vision and tone for the role of staff in the execution of the organization’s priorities; hiring, supervising and holding the staff and student office fellows accountable for the successful performance of their jobs; managing AMSA’s budgets and assets; ensuring the proper implementation and continuity of AMSA’s initiatives; identifying, negotiating and managing internal and external relationships and partnerships; providing stewardship for the organization’s resources; and mentoring and supporting AMSA’s leadership and members.

Williams-Nickelson received her M.S. and Psy.D. in psychology from Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio, Texas, and completed her doctoral internship at the University of Notre Dame Counseling Center. She has held several university faculty appointments, owned and operated a consulting business and health service organization, has served on multiple nonprofit, university and governmental boards and committees. In addition to delivering more than 125 professional presentations, she has published extensively by authoring over 100 scholarly publications, including several best-selling books in psychology. Williams-Nickelson has strong a nationwide reputation as a scholar, teacher and mentor, and has trained thousands of students. An organizer at heart, Williams-Nickelson has spearheaded very successful legislative advocacy initiatives, including many related to mental health parity at the local, state and national levels.

As a compassionate and dedicated servant leader, Williams-Nickelson has built profitable and successful organizations from the ground up and has been formally recognized for her ability to integrate and transform complex human and organizational systems. She is the former associate executive director of the American Psychological Association of Graduate Students (APAGS), where she served as the chief executive. Her professional interests, research, activities and scholarly work are in the areas of graduate student advocacy and development; training and clinical supervision; legislative advocacy; leadership; professional development; organizational development; self-care; mentoring; and women’s issues. She has received numerous awards and honors for her leadership and service. The Carol Williams-Nickelson Award for Women’s Leadership and Scholarship in Women’s Issues, created in honor of the work she has done in the field, is a competitive award bestowed to a deserving student each year by the APA and APAGS.

Williams-Nickelson considers her most important achievement and priority to be her family. She and her husband, Dr. David Nickelson, a psychologist, attorney and health technology strategist, are amazed every day that they were lucky enough to have two beautiful, smart, spirited and sweet daughters, Jillian and Tiffany, who bring their parents more joy than ever possibly imagined.