Introducing SLU’s Executive Vice President and Provost
Dear members of the SLU community,
After a highly competitive national search that drew an excellent pool of candidates, I am thrilled to share that Dr. Kathy E. Johnson will join the SLU community as our new Executive Vice President and Provost on July 13.
Currently president at the University of New Orleans (UNO), Dr. Johnson previously served for eight years as the Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer at IU Indianapolis (formerly IUPUI), Indiana University’s urban research and academic health sciences campus.
Members of the search committee, as well as additional selected faculty, staff, students, and administrators who met with the four finalists during their confidential visits to SLU, praised Dr. Johnson as an experienced academic leader and exceptional scholar who has implemented effective strategy, navigated complex change, improved student outcomes, and enhanced research impact at urban universities that are deeply committed to the success of their cities.
Dr. Johnson is a leader guided by her Catholic faith and dedicated to helping universities take concrete and courageous action to better serve students and communities. Among a great many accomplishments, she has launched a University College and an Honors College to support student success, formed centers and institutes to advance research excellence and community impact, and implemented multiple initiatives to leverage the interdisciplinary strengths of health sciences programs. As president of the University of New Orleans, Dr. Johnson has responded to a fiscal crisis with courage and clarity – communicating transparently about the nature of the challenge and stewarding the institution through the development of a recovery plan that will result in the return of UNO to the LSU system.
Dr. Johnson has implemented university-wide strategic plans at two institutions. As we prepare to launch a strategic plan that will advance SLU’s vision as a radically student-centered Jesuit research university, I am excited to welcome an EVPP who helped substantially increase IUPUI’s 4-year graduation rates and significantly reduce opportunity-based gaps in student success, while overseeing a complex research enterprise that encompassed the work of faculty at both IUPUI and the Indianapolis-based IU School of Medicine. She helped strengthen a research ecosystem that today generates over $550 million in annual expenditures.
A national leader among chief academic officers, Dr. Johnson is deeply committed to lifelong learning. She is an accomplished scholar who received multiple NIH and NSF grants for research in early cognitive development and expertise acquisition, along with institutional grants focused on STEM education and STEM careers. As an administrative leader, she has continued to teach. She has also collaborated with colleagues across disciplines to advance internal initiatives supporting leadership and faculty development, equity, and community.
Dr. Johnson is excited to take on a role that reflects her Catholic values and draws on her experience advancing student success and research innovation as mutually reinforcing strengths. I look forward to working in partnership with her, as she builds robust and collaborative relationships with faculty, staff, students, and leaders across the institution.
Kathy grew up in Massachusetts, completed her Ph.D. in Psychology at Emory University, and built her faculty and administrative career in Indianapolis. She and her husband, Richard Foran, look forward to returning to the Midwest this summer, when they make the move to St. Louis with the youngest of their five children.
I am grateful to Search Committee Vice Chair Dean Twinette Johnson and the members of the search committee for their significant time and vital insights. I also thank the many individuals who met with the four finalists and shared input that guided my selection.
Please join me in welcoming Dr. Johnson and her family to the Billiken community.
Edward Feser Ph.D.
President