Williams was born Marion Mottley, the daughter of two
Barbadian teachers, Rudolph and Cledlene Mottley. She was educated at St George's Primary School, St Michael's School, and from the age of 12 at
Queen's College. She earned a degree in Economics in 1968 from the
University of the West Indies, and later a Master's in Economics as the first postgraduate in the field at the university's
Cave Hill campus. In 1995, she earned her Ph.D. in Economics at the
University of Surrey, with a thesis on prudential regulation and
economic liberalisation. ==Career==