At the beginning of the fall 2023 semester, Dr. Kathy Johnson was appointed president of the University of New Orleans (UNO). She is the school’s eighth president, and the first female president in it’s 65-year history.
Johnson comes to the university after 30 years at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, where she ended an eight-year run as executive vice chancellor and chief academic officer.
“The University of New Orleans has a mission that I have spent the vast majority of my career helping to support,” said Johnson. “As an urban public research university, it combines the importance of knowledge creation, discovery and translational research with an equally important role of providing pathways to an affordable education for students from many backgrounds.”
A few months into the job, Johnson notes that there is no higher priority on the agenda than stabilizing and nourishing the university’s enrollment.
“We must do this by better supporting and retaining the students that we admit, along with seeking out opportunities to connect our strong academic programs with prospective learners from around the region, as well as throughout the world,” she said.
Johnson is well aware of the far-reaching effects of the university, which has educated students from all 64 Louisiana parishes, all 50 U.S. states, and more than 140 countries.
“It’s incredible how frequently I run into our alumni, and they invariably share a story with me about the impact that the university has had on their lives,” she said. “It is truly a gift, as well as a huge responsibility, to steward the university knowing these stories and the impact that our faculty and staff have had.”