Name: Tonjanita L. Johnson, Ph.D.
Graduation Year: 2006
Major: Urban Higher Education (Ph.D.)
Current Residency: Knoxville, Tennessee
Current Employment Status: Vice President for Communications and Marketing for the
University of Tennessee System
Favorite quote: “You don’t have to be a ‘person of influence’ to be influential. In fact, the most influential people in my life are probably not even aware of the things they’ve taught me.”
From her early career as an award-winning journalist to her current vice presidential post with the University of Tennessee System, she has secured a reputation as a seasoned communication and marketing professional and senior-level higher education administrator and presidential advisor. Dr. Johnson’s previous positions have included service as Chief Deputy to the President at the State University of New York at Stony Brook; Associate Vice President for Marketing and Communication/Chief Communication Advisor to the President at Middle Tennessee State University; and Executive Assistant to the President/Associate Vice President for University Relations at Mississippi Valley State University. She also served on the faculty at each of these institutions. A native of Butler, Alabama, Dr. Johnson also distinguished herself as a Jake Ayers Fellow in the JSU Institute for Research in Urban Higher Education (2004-06); a graduate of the Institute for Education Management through the Harvard Graduate School of Education (2008); and a New York Times Scholar (1987) at the University of Alabama, where she was also recognized as a distinguished alumna in the College of Communication and Information Science (2011).