Steven A. Williams was confirmed by the Senate as Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on January 30, 2002 and was formally sworn in by Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton on February 21, 2002. As Director, Williams oversees the operations of the nation's primary wildlife conservation agency with more than 7,500 employees and a 2002 budget of $1.94 billion.

Previously, Williams served as Secretary of the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks from 1995. His other former positions include Deputy Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Game Commission from 1992-1995; Assistant Director for Wildlife for the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife from 1989-1992; and a wildlife biologist specializing in research and management for white-tailed deer for the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife from 1985-1989. He served as a graduate teaching assistant at the Pennsylvania State University from 1981-1985, working on wildlife habitat analysis, and also worked as a graduate teaching assistant at the University of North Dakota from 1979-1981.

Williams earned a doctorate in forest resources at the Pennsylvania State University, University Park; a master of science degree from the University of North Dakota at Grand Forks; and a bachelor's degree in environmental resource management, also from the Pennsylvania State University. He is a member of the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, the Wildlife Society, and other professional and conservation organizations.

Williams, 44, and his wife, Beth, have two children. He was born in Bellows Falls, Vermont, and grew up in the rural Northeast.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting, and enhancing fish, wildlife, and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 94-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System and enforces Federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes of fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.