APSU's Dr. Brian Johnson named president of Tuskegee University
Dr. Brian Johnson, Austin Peay State University interim vice president of Strategic Planning and Institutional Effectiveness, was named the seventh president of Tuskegee University earlier this week. He will assume that role on June 15, 2014, succeeding Dr. Gilbert L. Rochon.
Dr. Brian Johnson, Austin Peay State University interim vice president of Strategic Planning and Institutional Effectiveness, was named the seventh president of Tuskegee University earlier this week. He will assume that role on June 15, 2014, succeeding Dr. Gilbert L. Rochon.
Johnson arrived at APSU in 2010 to serve as assistant provost/assistant vice president of Academic Affairs. He earned a Ph.D. in English in 2003 from the University of South Carolina. Before joining APSU, he served as chief of staff in the president's office at Johnson C. Smith University. Johnson is the editor and author of two books on W.E.B. Du Bois, 鈥淒u Bois on Reform: Periodical-based Leadership for African Americans鈥 (2005) and 鈥淲.E.B. Du Bois: Toward Agnosticism鈥 (2008). He was recently named an American Council of Education Fellow, where he spent significant time at Indiana University-Purdue University of Indiana.
In 2013, Johnson was named interim vice president of the newly formed APSU Office of Strategic Planning and Institutional Effectiveness. The office is tasked with developing strategic long-range plans for the University and assisting in the development of a comprehensive planning program for APSU.
According to a release issued by Tuskegee University, that institution 鈥渨as built as the intellectual epicenter of African American culture and academia and remains one of the nation's leading historically black institutions standing on a foundation of outstanding leadership in 133 years of service since its founding by Booker T. Washington. The university graduates over 75 percent of the African American veterinarians in the world and is the only Historically Black College or University (HBCU) with a fully accredited College of Veterinary Medicine that offers the doctoral degree. Tuskegee University is also the largest producer of African American STEM graduates.鈥
The Tuskegee University Board of Trustees conducted a national search for a new president, with the board unanimously selecting Johnson for the position.