Ronald Johnson has been named interim president of Tennessee State University. He began his one-year term as interim president on July 1.
Tennessee State University is a historically Black university in Nashville. The school enrolls about 7,700 undergraduate students, 85 percent of whom are African American. The university also enrolls a graduate population of roughly 1,500 students.
Dr. Johnson brings significant experience in HBCU leadership and academics to his new role. He recently served as interim president of Kentucky State University, and was president of Clark Atlanta University for three years. He has held faculty appointments with Texas Southern University, Florida A&M University, and Howard University, as well as Northeastern University in Boston.
Thanks to his vast higher education experience, Dr. Johnson was previously appointed to the President’s Advisory Board of the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, as well as the Consumer Advisory Board of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau of the United States. Additionally, he co-founded Clark Atlanta University’s HBCU Executive Leadership Institute, where he maintains a position on the institute’s advisory board.
Dr. Johnson is a graduate of Adelphi University in Garden City, New York, where he received his bachelor’s degree in economics and MBA in finance. He holds a master’s degree and Ph.D. in economics from Stanford University in California.
