Barbara J. Johnson, Ph.D.

Executive Vice President & Provost; Professor of Education

Talladega College

Dr. Barbara J. Johnson serves as the Executive Vice President and Provost and Professor of Education at Talladega College (Alabama). Before assuming her current post, she served as Vice President for Academic Affairs and Professor of Student Affairs Administration at Arkansas Tech University and as Vice President for Accreditation Relations for the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), one of six regional institutional accreditors. Earlier in her career, she distinguished herself as a Senior Vice President and tenured professor at Meharry Medical College and as a department chair and tenured professor at Northern Illinois University. Dr. Johnson also taught full-time at the University of New Orleans and Jackson State University before transitioning to academic administration. Her previous professional administrative experience includes both higher education and corporate environments at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Vanderbilt University, and CB&A Market Research Group.

In her various roles, she has developed or enhanced and implemented new academic offerings for degrees and certificates, created innovative initiatives for addressing student retention including an academic coaching initiative and summer bridge experience utilizing a co-requisite math model, and utilized creative strategies for the professional development of faculty and staff. Additionally, she has partnered with institutions and organizations to provide credit and non-credit educational offerings and programs.

As a scholar, her research focuses on the recruitment, development, retention and experiences of students and faculty in a variety of post-secondary institutions, specifically Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). She is actively engaged in the profession and the community and currently serves as a Community Advisory Board Member and as a Board Member of the American Association of Blacks in Higher Education as the Director of the Leadership and Mentoring Institute.

She earned her Ph.D. in Education and Human Development (emphasis in Higher Education) from Vanderbilt University; a M.B.A. (marketing focus) from The Ohio State University; and a B.S. in Accounting from Winston-Salem State University.