The William & Mary Board of Visitors has unanimously elected Ardine Williams as vice rector and Kendrick F. Ashton Jr. ’98 as secretary, effective July 1, 2025.

The 17-member board, which serves as the governing body of the university, held the election during its April meeting on campus last week.

Williams, the board’s current secretary, will succeed Barbara L. Johnson J.D. ’84 as vice rector. Johnson will complete two terms on the board – the maximum allowed – on June 30, 2025. 

The governor of Virginia appoints members to the board for four-year terms. The members vote on the board’s officers: rector, vice rector and secretary.

Known for her expertise in talent and economic development, Williams retired from Amazon as vice president for workforce development. Williams is a member of the Executive Committee and Committee on Audit Risk and Compliance and currently serves as chair of the Committee on Administration, Buildings & Grounds in addition to her role as secretary.

Ashton is co-founder and co-chief executive officer of The St. James, a developer and operator of performance, wellness and lifestyle destinations, brands, experiences and technologies. He is currently a member of the Executive Committee and Committee on the Student Experience, and he chairs the Committee on Institutional Advancement.

“Ardine and Kendrick have been invaluable members of the board, and I look forward to advancing our work together as they take on new leadership roles,” said Poston. “I am also grateful to Barbara for years of dedicated service to the board and William & Mary. We will strive to build on her legacy as we guide the Alma Mater of the Nation into the future.” 

Ardine Williams

Amazon recruited Williams out of retirement in 2014 for its Amazon Web Services cloud computing business, and she worked at the company until 2022. In her role as vice president for workforce development, she advised Amazon businesses on how to attract and develop talent, helped advance the company’s retraining initiative and worked with community and government leaders to grow the region’s talent pipeline for the careers of today and tomorrow. 

Previously, she served with Intel Corporation from 1997 to 2014 in a number of executive roles, including vice president of human resources enterprise services. Before her time at Intel, she worked for Hewlett Packard and Behring Company.

A U.S. Army veteran, Williams has worked throughout her career to recruit veterans and their spouses. She was the executive sponsor for American Veterans at Intel and a member of the White House’s Joining Forces Initiative industry working team and the President’s Job Council working team.

Williams is a graduate of Pacific Lutheran University and completed the executive program at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. She has received numerous honors throughout her career, including a Seven Seals Award from the U.S. Secretary of Defense. In addition to her service on the William & Mary Board of Visitors, she is a member of the Board of Trustees for the Strada Education Foundation.  

Kendrick F. Ashton Jr. ’98

A graduate of William & Mary, Ashton went on to a successful career in business and finance. Prior to his current role as co-founder and co-chief executive officer of The St. James, he was a founding member and managing director of Perella Weinberg Partners, a global boutique financial services firm. Before that, he was an investment banker at Goldman, Sachs & Co. and gained legal experience at Cravath, Swaine & Moore and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.

In addition to his work with The St. James, Ashton is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the Board of Trustees of the National Urban League and the Board of Directors of The Economic Club of Washington, D.C.

While at William & Mary, Ashton was a star football player who made all-conference. He and his wife, Mashea M. Ashton ’96, M.A.Ed. ’97, have remained closely connected to their alma mater throughout the years. He is an emeritus member of the William & Mary Foundation Board of Trustees, and he served as chair of the reunion committee for the Class of 1998.

After earning his bachelor’s degree in international relations from the university, Ashton received a law degree from the University of Chicago Law School and a master’s degree from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. 

Barbara L. Johnson J.D. ’84

Johnson is the founder of BLJohnsonLaw, PLLC and Counsel with Potter & Murdock, PC. Throughout the past three decades, she has represented myriad employers – from Global 50 companies to manufacturers – advising them on a range of workplace issues. She has practiced law in a variety of settings from a major corporation to a global AmLaw 100 law firm to a minority-owned litigation boutique.

She is a fellow of the American Bar Association College of Labor & Employment Lawyers and an active member of the Association of Workplace Investigators. In addition, she co-hosts the podcast “Today’s Workplace.”

Johnson was originally appointed to William & Mary’s board in 2017 and again in 2021. She served as secretary of the board from 2020 to 2022. In addition to her current role as vice rector, she is chair of the Committee on Academic Affairs and vice chair of the Executive Committee. She is also a member of the Richard Bland Committee. In addition to serving on the Board of Visitors, Johnson was a member of the Board of Trustees of the W&M Law School Foundation, where she served as president from 2014 to 2016 and vice president from 2012 to 2014. 

She earned her undergraduate degree from Hampton University and her law degree from the William & Mary Law School in 1984.