AGB Search Assists Morris Brown College in the Recruitment of a New Provost
July 15, 2021 – As the pandemic begins to subside in the U.S. and organizations collectively begin to get back on their feet, colleges and universities across the country are opening searches that, if all goes to plan, will allow high-profile leaders to take them into a new era of fundraising, digitalization, sports and, increasingly the case, globalization – not to mention a pandemic and post-pandemic era. One national recruiting outfit, AGB Search, has become a magnet for such assignments. Most recently, the Washington, D.C.-based recruiter placed Anthony B. Johnson as the new provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Morris Brown College in Atlanta. Consultant Gwendolyn E. Boyd led the assignment.
“As we continue to work through the hard reset, we are thrilled to have Dr. Johnson,” said Kevin James, president of Morris Brown College. “He has a wealth of experience in leading historically black colleges and universities (HBCU) through accreditation, student progress, governance, fiscal stability and academic affairs. I welcome him to my senior team to take Morris Brown College’s academic department and its programs to the next level in our storied history.”
Executive Recruiters & Talent Leaders
Reveal Market Forecast
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Dr. Johnson brings to Morris Brown College extensive administrative experience having served at a broad range of higher education institutions, including HBCUs. This experience includes the development and implementation of accreditation and program review processes, procedures, assessment and accountability measures. Dr. Johnson previously served as the interim vice president for academic affairs and chief academic officer at Philander Smith College in Little Rock, AK; associate vice president for academic affairs and associate professor at Grambling State University in Grambling, LA; and, associate dean and assistant dean at Howard University’s School of Education, Washington, D.C. Dr. Johnson also served as the assessment coordinator and assistant professor in the College of Education at Grambling State University and served as a distinguished faculty member in the Summer Teachers’ Institute sponsored by Florida International University
Morris Brown College was founded by formerly enslaved religious leaders at Big Bethel AME Church in 1881, and it is the first college in Georgia to be owned and operated by African Americans. The iconic Fountain Hall and the current Morris Brown campus are where W.E.B. Du Bois wrote The Souls of Black Folk in 1903. Notable alumni include Alberta Williams King, mother of Martin Luther King, Jr., and James Alan McPherson, the first black writer to win a Pulitzer Prize for fiction.
Serving Universities
AGB Search, which specializes in higher education leadership, conducts searches for college and university presidents, chancellors, provosts, vice presidents, deans, university system heads, and CEOs of coordinating boards and related foundations. The firm was founded by the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB) in 2010.
Cultivating the Higher Education Leadership Pipeline
In this brand new episode of ‘Talent Talks,’ Hunt Scanlon Media host Rob Adams is joined by Rod McDavis, managing principal of AGB Search and Nancy Zimpher, Chancellor Emerita of the University at Albany. In this podcast, Dr. McDavis and Dr. Zimpher share recent trends in higher education leadership including diversity and how AGB’s Institute for Leadership & Governance is changing the game. Listen now!
Dr. Boyd joined AGB Search in 2017 as an executive search consultant. She is an engineer and a prominent advocate of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education. Dr. Boyd’s professional career of more than three decades at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics laboratory was highlighted by exemplary leadership and dedicated services as part of engineering teams. Dr. Boyd is a nationally recognized champion of education, especially in the STEM disciplines. She was nominated by President Barack Obama and was confirmed by the Senate to serve as a trustee to the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation in 2009. She later served on the President’s Advisory Commission on Education Excellence for African Americans in 2014.
Related: AGB Search Selected by University of North Dakota to Find Provost
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
