Born: Croydon, England 1932 09 27
Citizenship: Canada; United Kingdom
Married; 3 adult children
Languages: English, Norwegian; Working knowledge: other Scandinavian
languages, French, some Russian
Cambridge University: B.A. 1954, M.A. 1958; elected Visiting Fellow, Fitzwilliam College, 1995. Stockholm University: Fil. Lic., Fil. Dr. 1969 (for published works: soil physics, etc.).
National Research Council of Canada, Division of Building Research, Research Officer, 1957-62, 1965-69. NTNF Fellow, Norwegian Geotechnical Institute, 1962-65. Carleton University, Ottawa, 1969-present: Professor of Geography, 1971-present, Distinguished Research Professor, 1996- ; Director, Geotechnical Science Laboratories, 1978-present. Visiting Scholar at Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge University, 1975-76, 1982-83, 1989-90, 1994-present. Principal, Peter J. Williams & Associates Ltd., 1979-present.
Technical Witness, Berger Inquiry, 1974-75. Headed consultant teams for Government of Canada for various Inquiries into Northern oil and gas megaprojects, 1977-83. Principal Investigator for government- and industry- sponsored international research projects on effects of freezing on pipelines, 1982-1994.
Consultant, Canada and abroad, various aspects of cold regions, pipelines, climate instability, Currently engaged in establishing international collaborative projects for developing methods for hydrocarbon spill remediation and improved geotechnical procedures for pipelines in cold regions.
Author of 'The Surface of the Earth: An Introduction to Geotechnical Science' (Longman, 1982); 'Pipelines and Permafrost: Science in a Cold Climate' (2nd Ed. 3rd Printing, 1989), Longman and Carleton University Press; and, with M. W. Smith 'The Frozen Earth: Fundamentals of Geocryology' (Cambridge University Press, 1989, pb. edn. 1991). Also author of monograph on soil freezing, editor of various conference proceedings, etc., and author or co- author of some sixty-five scientific papers. Presently technical editor and leader of translation project for major Russian text on permafrost (with Cambridge University Press).