James A. Williams - Commissioner, Federal Acquisition Service

James A. Williams returned to the position of Commissioner, Federal Acquisition Service on January 22, 2009.  He was designated Acting Administrator of the U.S. General Services Administration on August 30, 2008.  As Acting Administrator, Williams presided over the leading acquisition agency for the federal government.  He was responsible for the management of nearly 12,000 employees and more than one-fourth of the government's total procurement dollars. As Administrator he influenced the management of $500 billion in assets including 8,600 government-owned or leased buildings.  He also was steward of more than 425 historic properties and 208,000 vehicles.

During his leadership as Acting Administrator, Williams was responsible for a very successful presidential transition; and for gaining approval of the 4.5 million square foot Master Plan for the St. Elizabeths Hospital campus in Washington, DC to be the new permanent home of the Department of Homeland Security.  He also provided leadership in the sustainable design of energy efficient buildings; managed various “green” initiatives that provide environmentally friendly products, services and technology to federal agencies; and continued the implementation of fuel-efficient vehicles within federal and GSA’s vehicle fleets.

Before becoming Acting Administrator, Williams served as Commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service.  Here he provides strategic direction-setting, performance management and leadership for the efficient and effective program execution necessary to provide best value for the government and for taxpayers, proactive customer assistance and simplified procedures.  His organization is responsible for nearly $50 billion annually in acquisition revenues covering the GSA Schedules Program, information technology, vehicles, furniture, supplies to the warfighter, property disposal, travel and transportation contracts and assisting customer agencies with life cycle acquisition support.

Prior to this, Williams served as Director of the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology program (US-VISIT) at the Department of Homeland Security. Previously, he served in several executive leadership positions at the Internal Revenue Service, including Deputy Associate Commissioner for Program Management, Deputy Assistant Commissioner for Procurement and later as Director of Procurement at the IRS.

Earlier in his career, Williams was director of the Local Telecommunications Procurement Division at GSA, where he was responsible for all nationwide local telecommunications purchases for the agency.

A native of Virginia, Williams earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from Virginia Commonwealth University and a master's in business administration from The George Washington University.