Williams is Professor of English and Linguistics at the University of Chicago, where he co-directs its Institute on Critical Thinking and Higher Order Reasoning. He received his Ph.D. in English and linguistics from the University of Wisconsin.

Williams is a Fitzhenry and Whiteside author.

Joseph Bizup (Ph.D., Indiana University) is an Associate Professor of English and Director of the College of Arts & Sciences Writing Program at Boston University. He previously taught and directed writing programs at Yale University and Columbia University in the City of New York. His scholarly interests include nineteenth-century literature, especially nonfiction prose, and writing studies, especially genre, style, and argumentation.