Anthem Executive Assists the University of Montevallo With President Search
June 23, 2026 – Anthem Executive has assisted in the recruitment of Michelle R. Johnston as the first female president of the University of Montevallo (UM). Michael Ballew, Scott Watson, Mike “JR” Wheless, and Florene Stawowy led the assignment.
Dr. Johnston has served as the president of Georgia Southwestern State University since 2024. Prior to her current presidency, she served as president of three other higher education institutions: the College of Coastal Georgia, the University of Rio Grande and Rio Grande Community College in Ohio. Her top priorities have been enhancing student success, ensuring excellence in all academic and student development programs and expanding strategic partnerships and donor engagement.
During her more than 30-year career in higher education, Dr. Johnston has also served as a faculty member and in various administrative roles. Between 2007 and 2014, she served in various senior leadership roles at the University of Montevallo, including senior vice president for administrative affairs, vice president for institutional effectiveness and special assistant to the president for institutional research, planning and assessment. She was also an assistant professor of marketing and management.
In 2014, Dr. Johnston was appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Defense to the Marine Corps University Board, where she served two terms as the chair. She has been a leader at state and national levels on campus assault response and prevention, including invitations for meetings to discuss Title IX at the White House and with the U.S. Secretary of Education.
Dr. Johnston is a Leadership Georgia alum and currently serves on the Phoebe Sumter Medical Center board, the Sumter Strong steering committee, the Sumter County Chamber of Commerce board and the Chattahoochee-Flint Regional Educational Service Agency (RESA) board.
Founded in 1896, the University of Montevallo is Alabama’s only public liberal arts university, located near the geographical center of the state in Montevallo. Home to 2,600 students, UM offers more than 30 degree programs with approximately 70 major/concentration combinations and more than 15 graduate programs across five distinct colleges: Arts & Sciences, Business, Education and Human Development, Fine Arts and Health Professions.
Serving a Range of Business Sectors
Anthem Executive, headquartered in Houston, TX, serves clients across a range of business sectors, including higher education, health sciences, corporate and non-profit institutions, global software and technology, private equity, insurance, service and manufacturing, oil and gas, and others. Its consultants bring a combined 80 years’ experience in the search industry. The firm’s higher education practice spans the entire leadership spectrum. In other sectors, Anthem Executive covers all roles from CEO and other C-suite leaders, board directors, vice president, and directors, among others.
Related: Anthem Executive Assists Texas A&M International University with President Search
Mr. Ballew, a registered Native American and member of the Echota Cherokee Tribe, serves as the firm’s chief diversity, inclusion, equity, and compliance officer, as well as search committee facilitator. He joined the executive search industry 14 years ago following a 20-plus year career in senior-level management with expertise in recruiting, counseling, training, operations, strategic planning, facilitation, project management, and workplace diversity.
Mr. Watson has been in the executive search industry for over 30 years. In addition to higher education institutions, he has served hospital/health systems, global software and technology companies, private equity enterprises, MCOs, insurance companies, service and manufacturing organizations with global footprints, and others.
Mr. Wheless, a veteran of more than two decades in the search industry, has served a broad portfolio of clients across many industry lines on behalf of organizations ranging from small operations to Fortune $100 billion plus enterprises – including working with and recruiting some of the nation’s most influential leadership. Mr. Wheless has served institutions and organizations across a broad range of geographies and sectors in higher education, technology, healthcare, energy, financial services, law, insurance, hospitality and food services, retail, CPG, EPC, manufacturing, aerospace, mining, construction, and real estate.
Ms. Stawowy, who has been in executive search for over 20 years, is a core member of the higher education and academic health practice. Over the last two decades, she has developed deep expertise in senior‐level search, having been charged with numerous executive leadership transitions with a particular emphasis on higher education and academic health search.
Related: Anthem Executive Assists the University of West Alabama with Provost Search
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
