The board of trustees of Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, North Carolina, has chosen Clarence D. Armbrister as the historically Black university’s fourteenth president. He will take the reins of the university on January 1.
Johnson C. Smith University enrolls about 1,300 undergraduate students and 100 graduate students, according to the latest U.S. Department of Education figures. African Americans are 84 percent of the student body.
In accepting the appointment, Armbrister stated: “I am honored and humbled to have been selected as the 14th president of Johnson C. Smith University, which throughout its 150-year history has improved the lives of its students and contributed to the growth of Charlotte. I am especially looking forward to working with the Board, the faculty, staff and administration to position JCSU as one of the finest institutions of higher education in the country that meets not only the needs of its students, but those of the communities it serves — locally, regionally and globally.”
Armbrister currently serves as president of Girard College, an independent college preparatory school in Philadelphia. Previously, he was senior vice president and chief of staff at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Earlier, he was executive vice president and chief operating officer at Temple University in Philadelphia.
A native of Miami, Armbrister is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where he majored in political science and economics. He earned a juris doctorate at the University of Michigan Law School.
