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Faculty Affairs
Office of the Provost

Joseph A. Johnson, Jr., Distinguished Leadership Professor Award

Call for nominations: November 8, 2023
Submission Deadline: December 18, 2023

The Joseph A. Johnson, Jr., Distinguished Leadership Professor Award recognizes faculty leadership in equity, diversity, and inclusion. It is awarded at the Spring Faculty Assembly to a full-time, regular faculty member for distinguished leadership at Vanderbilt University. In 1954, Johnson became the first African American to earn a Vanderbilt degree, the bachelor of divinity. He also was the first African American to earn a doctoral degree, the Ph.D., in 1958. Established in 2016 by Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos, the Johnson Award recognizes a faculty member whose contributions to the university have enhanced equity, diversity, and inclusion in the university’s academic endeavors. It recognizes and thereby inspires in others, initiatives related to diversity and inclusion in the university community, and efforts to support equity for faculty, students, staff, and alumni. The winner will receive a cash award, an engraved silver tray, and official designation as Joseph A. Johnson, Jr., Distinguished Leadership Professor for one academic year.

Members of the Faculty are invited to submit nominations to the Faculty Senate. The Consultative Committee will review nominations and make recommendations to the Provost and the Vice Chancellor for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. Final selection will be made by the Chancellor in consultation with the Provost and the Vice Chancellor for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. The announcement will be made during the Spring Faculty Assembly.

Nominations will be accepted through InfoReady. Please contact Stacey Andrews (stacey.andrews @vanderbilt.edu) with any questions related to the award process.

Previous Winners

  • 2023 Rolanda Johnson (Nursing)
  • 2022 H. Richard Milner IV, (Teaching & Learning)
  • 2021 Christopher Carpenter (Economics)
  • 2020 Lucius Outlaw (Philosophy)
  • 2019 Charlene Dewey (Medical Education and Administration)
  • 2018 Jesse Ehrenfeld (Anesthesiology)
  • 2017 Jana L. Lauderdale (Nursing)
  • 2016 Linda J. Sealy (Molecular Physiology and Biophysics)

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