Dr. Dave Williams

Dr. Dave Williams is a Canadian physician, public speaker, CEO, author, and a retired CSA astronaut. Williams was a mission specialist on two Space Shuttle missions. His first spaceflight, STS-90 in 1998, was a 16-day mission aboard Space Shuttle Columbia dedicated to neuroscience research. His second flight, STS-118 in August 2007, was flown by Space Shuttle Endeavour to the International Space Station. During that mission he performed three spacewalks, becoming the third Canadian to perform a spacewalk and setting a Canadian record for total number of spacewalks. These spacewalks combined for a total duration of 17 hours and 47 minutes. Williams’ explorations go beyond outer space: in 2001, he became the first Canadian to have lived and worked in space and the ocean when he participated in the first NASA undersea mission to the Aquarius research habitat and served as the commander of the NEEMO 9 mission in 2007. He has also been to both polar regions on Earth. He has won many awards and accolades, including the Royal Canadian Geographical Society Gold Medal in 2017.