Dr. Angela Williamson is the Supervisor of the Forensics Unit at the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) and Liaison with the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI’s) Violent Criminal Apprehension Program. Dr. Williamson also serves as the Forensic Subject Matter Expert for BJA and the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Units, and she assists law enforcement agencies across the United States.
Dr. Williamson developed and oversees the National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative along with other forensic-based programs at BJA. She has over 18 years of experience as a forensic specialist working on complex criminal cases and missing/unidentified persons investigations. She previously worked in state and private forensic labs performing serological screening and DNA analysis on thousands of major crime cases.
Prior to joining BJA, she held the positions of Director of Forensic Casework at Bode Technology, America's largest private forensic DNA laboratory, and Biometrics and Unknown Victim Identification Project Manager at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). At Bode, she worked thousands of sexual assault cases, homicides, human remains (missing, unidentified, mass disasters), and many high profile cases, including the Zodiac serial killer and JonBenet Ramsey homicide. At NCMEC, Angela oversaw forensic/biometric services, assisted in the identification of child homicide victims, and helped solve cold case homicides.
She has extensive knowledge of current forensic practices and emerging technologies and routinely trains law enforcement in all aspects of forensics, including advanced DNA techniques for crime scene evidence. In 2018 and 2020, Angela received the U.S. Department of Justice Assistant Attorney General's Distinguished Service Award for outstanding contributions to the mission and goals of OJP programs. In 2019, Angela received the International Homicide Investigators Association Award for Excellence for her role in the Samuel Little serial killer investigation.
Angela received her doctorate in molecular biology and biochemistry from the University of Queensland in Australia.