Biography

Dr. Gladys Styles Johnston serves as the current Director of the Millennium Leadership Initiative (MLI) and Assistant to the President of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU). The MLI is a leadership program within AASCU for high achieving academic administrators at the level of Dean or higher who seek the opportunity to be seriously considered as a candidate for a presidency or chancellorship of a College or University. Dr. Johnston was one of the original founders of the MLI organization. Dr. Johnston, Chancellor Emerita, served as Chancellor of the University of Nebraska at Kearney from August 1993 until June 2002. Before joining the University of Nebraska at Kearney, she was Provost and then Executive Vice President at DePaul University in Chicago. Prior to her appointment at DePaul she served as Dean of the College of Education at Arizona State University (ASU). Before joining ASU she was Chair of the Department of Management in the School of Business at Rutgers University. Her first administrative appointment at Rutgers was Chair of the Department of Education Administration. Dr. Johnston’s scholarly recognition includes her appointment as the Distinguished Commonwealth Visiting Professor in the School of Education at the College of William and Mary. During her active years as a faculty member, she published two books, co-authored numerous research articles, was the preceptor to over twenty Ph.D. students and served on the editorial Boards of several research journals in her research field. Dr. Johnston served on several civic, educational and commercial boards including the Omaha Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, which she chaired for three consecutive years. She was a member of the Executive Committee of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and Chair of Division II. While a member of the Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), a national organization of Presidents and Chancellors, she served on the Board and, later became the Chair of the Board. During this period she chaired the Women’s Presidents group. Other key memberships included the Board of Directors of the American Council of Education (ACE), the Board of the Higher Learning Commission (formerly the North Central Accrediting Association, NCA) and she has served as a national advisor for the Kellogg Foundations National Fellowship Program. In 1992 she was selected by the YMCA of Chicago as the “Outstanding Educator in the City for the Year” She is also an invited member of the International Women’s Forum, an organization that fosters the association of pre-eminent women, throughout the world. She is listed also in World Who’s Who of Women. Dr. Johnston’s educational credentials include a Bachelors degree in Social Science from Cheyney University, a Masters degree in Educational Administration from Temple University and a Ph.D. from Cornell University in educational administration, curriculum development and rural sociology.