By Noor Abdoulhamid Bagher Zadeh
Dr. Russell Williams is a cancer survivor. After a horrible experience, he beat it in 2013.
The first symptoms were what he thought was arthritis in his legs. The doctor did all the tests and told him there is a high possibility of getting cancer because his uncle died from cancer, and on the other side of family, another uncle died from cancer. The doctor said you must have another test to see if the cancer has spread, but the cancer did not spread. He says he is a very lucky man but he is more like a fighter.
A professional educator and assistant dean of the College of Communication and Media Sciences at Zayed University, Dr. Williams has a passion for both media and teaching. I never met anyone who likes school so much. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Communication from Linfield College, McMinnville, Oregon, his Master of Arts in Communication from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Ft. Worth, Texas, and his doctorate in Telecommunications from Indiana University in Bloomington.
Dr. Russell Williams, Video Game Researcher and Hope Warrior, By Hajer Al Teneiji on Vimeo.
He is currently doing research on video games and how they affect users (see video, above).
Dr. Williams has had clear goals since he was young. After college graduation, he worked as photographer, and wanted to see the world. Sometimes he would work for free as a photographer for an organization if it would would pay his way to a country. In this way, he has visited more than 20 countries.
Dr. Williams is married to a wonderful wife, Rochelle, also a faculty member in CCMS. She supported him in his sickness. They have two daughters. When he first talked about his daughters, I could see the sparkle in his eyes.
I love the way Ms. Rochelle talks about her husband. When I first asked her if she could talk about him, she said, “Oh god, I can go on for hours.” It shows she knows him very well. When she started talking about him, she started with a smiley face.
I noticed that they are totally in love with each other. She described him as intelligent person who takes cares of his own family and is a very loyal and trustworthy husband.
She mentioned his principles. For instance, if he bumped into another person’s parked car, he would leave a note.
She also gently criticized him by saying he is unorganized, but his brain is very well organized. His wife said if you send him an email he might not respond but when you go to his office, he remembers your email and what you wrote in that email.
I noticed that Dr. Williams remembers every detail and it shows how smart he is.
About the Author
Noor Abdoulhamid Bagher Zadeh is a published author, a journalist and a coffee lover.
This story was originally published on Sept. 30, 2016. It was re-uploaded on Dec. 31, 2020.
