Thompson Williams; led students to college

For 26 years, as director of the Transitional Year Program at Brandeis University, Thompson F. Williams Jr. challenged the minds and molded the characters of countless young men and women who otherwise might not have had access to a college education.

Mr. Williams, who might have become a jazz pianist had he chosen not to be an educator, died at his Watertown home on Oct. 10 after a two-year battle with lung cancer. He was 68.

"In many ways, for the hundreds of students who attended it, Tony epitomized the program," said Brandeis president Jehuda Reinharz. "He was tireless and dedicated to it and to them and continued to follow his students after they graduated. He was really a father figure for many of them."

The one-year program prepares disadvantaged students for college, and many have gone on to study at Brandeis.

"Tony Williams valued assets, such as maturity, tenacity, and responsibility, which students bring to the college experience," said Erika Smith, director of the program. "He pushed them to question their beliefs in order to foster their intellectual growth and development."

Former students recalled the lasting impact that Mr. Williams had on them. "Mr. Williams changed my life," said Jorge Santana of Newton.

While growing up, one of Santana's parents was living in New York and one in Massachusetts, so he went to school in both states for a while before dropping out. He said a social worker he met on a train talked him into getting his GED. That led him to the Brandeis program - and to Mr. Williams.

"When Mr. Williams found out I was living in a shelter, he called me into his office and in a gruff manner said that wouldn't do and had me in a dorm room the next day," Santana said.

When Santana finished the program he went on to college at Brandeis, with financial aid and moral support from Mr. Williams.

After Santana said he took off his junior year for "some personal issues," Mr. Williams kept calling him and persuaded him to return to school.

"Mr. Williams never judged or gave up on me," Santana said. "He was a teacher, a therapist, a social worker, and counselor, all wrapped into one."

Santana graduated from Brandeis in 2005 and is working on his master's degree in social work at Boston College and working for the state Department of Social Services.

Pedro Fontes of Quincy, who also completed the program, recalled Mr. Williams as one of the most influential people in his life.

"He went above and beyond the normal responsibilities of a teacher. He was a tough teacher but always had constructive criticism . . . Without this program, I would not be doing what I'm doing."

Fontes graduated from Brandeis in 2000 and is a second vice president for wealth management at the brokerage firm Citi Smith Barney.

Mr. Williams was born in Birmingham, Ala., to Thompson F. Williams and Celia (Roper) Williams. His daughter, Toni of Boston, said her grandfather had gone to a black college in the South to be a math teacher. But when they came to Massachusetts he could not get a teaching job because of racial barriers, so he worked on the railroad. Young Tony attended St. Joseph's School in Roxbury.

His daughter said he started playing the piano when he was very young, and was classically trained. He was about 13 when he learned to love jazz piano from a teacher at the Berklee College of Music. He played for years, sometimes to earn money to pay for school tuition.

In 1959, Mr. Williams married Nathalie Rose. The marriage ended in divorce.

Mr. Williams attended Northeastern University from 1959-1960 and graduated from Boston University in 1966 with a bachelor's degree in sociology and psychology. In 1969, he received a master's in social work from Wayne State University in Michigan.

That same year, he went to Brandeis as an assistant dean of students and in 1978 he was made director of the Transitional Year Program, founded 10 years earlier. After retiring in 2004, Mr. Williams stayed on to teach another year.

He never lost his love for piano, said Susan Haskell of Boston, his partner of many years. Though he did not play as much, he kept listening to his "amazing selection of jazz," including Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, Bill Evans, and Keith Jarrett.

But he devoted his life to teaching. Former students still remember Mr. Williams's favorite sayings, including: "Life is not a level playing field. Better to accept it, deal with it, and overcome it."

Brandeis has established a Transitional Year Program scholarship in his name, said David Nathan, a university spokesman.

In addition to his daughter and Haskell, he leaves his sister, Thomasine Yates of Chicago, and his former wife, of West Falmouth.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. today at Levin Ballroom at the Usdan Student Center at Brandeis.