He undertook post-graduate degrees specialising in bridge design at Rice University in Texas and Imperial College London, gaining a PhD in 1969.
In 1971 Williams returned to Australia to work for Redpath Dorman Long, a British company tasked with the redesign and reconstruction of the West Gate Bridge in Melbourne, that collapsed during initial construction in 1970.
These included the introduction of a new corporate identity, the investment in a new standard gauge mainline from Tarcoola to Alice Springs, as well as standardisation of the line from Port Pirie to Adelaide.
In 1986 AN introduced the computerised Train Information Management System (TIMS) which could recall details of 87,117 registered items of rolling stock operating on the mainland and in Tasmania, as well as also give their location at any point in time.
Donald Gatherer Williams was born 23 August 1937 in Fremantle, Western Australia, where his father worked for the WAGR as the Chief Civil Engineer.