Ederyn Williams

Williams is the son of the Welsh academic and television critic Raymond Williams.[4] Williams earned a DPhil in Psychology from the University of Oxford in 1971.[5]

Williams, along with fellow social psychologists Bruce Christie and John Short, developed social presence theory in 1976.[6] Social presence theory is defined as "the degree of salience of the other person in the interaction and consequent salience of the interpersonal relationships."[6] This theory argues that media differ in their ability to convey intimacy and immediacy.[6] Social presence theory is a key theory in understanding interpersonal communication and has found to be a strong indicator in satisfaction.[7][6]

In the early 1980s, Williams was briefly the head of the short-lived gaming company, Telecomsoft.[8]

In 1991, Williams became the Managing Director of Leeds Innovations Ltd. at the University of Leeds. [9] In 2000, Williams joined the University of Warwick, where he founded an academic department that later became Warwick Ventures Ltd.[10] The company branded itself as a technology commercialisation company.[10] In April 2010, Williams was awarded the Queen's Award for Enterprise Promotion for his pivotal role in the development of "knowledge transfer from universities to businesses in the UK."[9] Williams retired from Warwick Ventures in September 2011 and now serves as the Director of Biosite Systems Ltd.[11][12]