How Melvin D. Williams Rose To Become President Of Nicor Gas

It’s hard to imagine the current president of Nicor Gas, the largest natural gas distributor in Illinois, and senior vice president of Southern Company Gas as a self-proclaimed introvert who once struggled with transitioning to a corporate environment.

 Melvin Williams has paved a long and successful career path for himself since his days of growing up in Savannah, Georgia. The youngest of six children, Williams’s humble beginnings were never a deterrent to his desire to learn and succeed.

“My parents taught us important life values,” Williams says, “and they always reminded us of the importance of believing in ourselves and understanding that our socio-economic conditions were not going to direct our destiny. Most importantly, they taught us the value of education. My mother always said that ‘education will be the equalizer.’ I am the last of six children, and all six of us went to college.”

Williams started out as an English major at Savannah State College before setting that aside to pursue a degree in business administration and marketing, a decision that would take him into the world of sales. The energy industry was not the first career path that he considered as a young graduate. According to Williams, his entry into the industry was a bit of fate.

“I was working at Sears in sales in the appliance department at the time,” Williams continues. “As I was getting ready to move up into a management role, a friend of the family who was working at the local gas company had mentioned a position opening up following someone’s retirement. I had mentioned to her that I was looking for new opportunities as I was determined to learn as much as I could. That is where I began working in sales at a gas company.”