Ward-Johnson, a North Carolina A&T alumna, has served in various leadership roles and as a faculty member during her 15 years at Elon.
Frances Ward-Johnson, an associate professor in Elon’s School of Communications, will depart Elon to become dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at North Carolina A&T State University following a two-year national search.
Ward-Johnson, an alumna of North Carolina A&T, will begin her new duties July 1. Her last official day at Elon is June 30.
“I credit my Elon experiences for helping prepare me for this new role, and I will greatly miss the Elon family,” Ward-Johnson said. “At the same time, joining my alma mater in this position is an incredible honor.
“I am excited about the opportunity to help shape the future direction of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, and work with a team of dedicated faculty, staff and administrators. I am also thrilled about the chance to impact the lives and experiences of students attending N.C. A&T.”
Ward-Johnson has served in various leadership roles and as a faculty member at Elon for 15 years, most recently as Faculty Fellow for Leadership in the Provost’s Office. She twice assumed the interim role of department chair in the School of Communications and served as associate department chair for five years.
She co-chaired Elon’s Presidential Task Force on Black Student, Faculty and Staff Experiences, and served as an Academic Service-Learning Faculty Scholar with the Kermode Center for Service Learning and a Coleman Foundation Faculty Entrepreneurship Fellow in the Love School of Business. She co-led study abroad programs to Barbados and Greece and taught a domestic study away course for many years where she led students on a tour of the Deep South to study civil rights and leadership.
Ward-Johnson earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from North Carolina A&T, and holds a doctoral degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
“We are delighted to welcome Dr. Ward-Johnson back to North Carolina A&T,” said Dr. Beryl McEwen, provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs at North Carolina A&T. “The College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences is a central part of the A&T academic enterprise and her leadership and classroom experience have prepared her well for this new role in CAHSS and the university.”
North Carolina A&T is a public research university offering 177 undergraduate degrees and 40 graduate programs to more than 11,500 students. It is currently the largest four-year historically black college in the country.