Dr. ClarLynda Williams-DeVane

Dr. Williams-DeVane serves as the Chief Deputy and Deputy Secretary of Operational Excellence for NCDHHS.  Dr. Williams-DeVane previously served various other roles in the department, including Senior Deputy Director for the Division of Public Health, the Deputy State Health Official for North Carolina, the North Carolina State Registrar, and the Director of the State Center for Health Statistics. 

Dr. Williams-DeVane is now responsible for the Operational infrastructure of NCDHHS including Human Resources, the NCDHHS Data Office, Budget and Finance, the Office of the Controller, Property and Construction, Information Technology, the Office of Strategy and Performance, the Office of Procurements, Contracts, and Grants, and the Office of the Internal Auditor. 

Before joining the department, Dr. Williams-DeVane served as the founding chair of the Data Science and Bioinformatics Department at Fisk University and as an associate professor of Bioinformatics at NC Central University. Dr. Williams-DeVane earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from North Carolina Central University and PhD in Bioinformatics from North Carolina State University. She also completed a Postdoctoral fellowship at the US Environmental Protection Agency and a Building Interdisciplinary Careers in Women’s Health (BIRCWH) fellowship in OB-GYN at Duke University School of Medicine.

Dr. Williams-DeVane is the proud wife of a middle school administrator and mom of two amazing boys. She enjoys volunteering on several non-profit boards, including Tri It for Life, an organization that supports women into healthy, empowered lifestyles through the sport of triathlon and several organizations that support her sons’ love of baseball.