ETSU's Dr. Kiana Johnson Named To Maxine Smith Fellows Leadership Program

From East Tennessee State University:

June 22, 2021

Dr. Kiana Johnson from East Tennessee State University is among the 21 faculty and staff members from colleges and universities across Tennessee selected to participate in the 2021-22 Class of the Maxine Smith Fellows program.

The Maxine Smith Fellows program provides professional development, training and advancement opportunities for participants from traditionally underrepresented groups at Tennessee’s locally governed public universities and the community and technical colleges governed by the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR). Members meet monthly for a year, starting this month.

Johnson is an associate professor in the Division of Academic Pediatrics in ETSU’s Quillen College of Medicine. She is a health services researcher whose work focuses primarily on promoting resilience among youth with rheumatic diseases and youth in state custody and secondarily on measurement development. Most recently, she was awarded a $2.5 million U.S. Department of Education Javits grant to improve the gifted education identification process by making gifted education more equitable and accessible.

In addition to the professional development of class members, the program stimulates increased collaboration among institutions, development of a statewide network for program participants, and an overall increase in the diversity of ideas, thoughts, and experiences within senior leadership ranks at Tennessee public higher education institutions.

“Maxine Smith Fellows alumni have advanced to senior leadership positions, including seven Fellows who have gone on to serve as presidents at colleges and universities in Tennessee and in other states. Many of them have said that the Maxine Smith Fellows experience contributed to their success,” said Dr. Wendy J. Thompson, the program’s administrator and TBR vice chancellor for organizational effectiveness.

“One essential component of the program’s success is the continued support and engagement of college and university presidents, as well as other higher education leaders from across the state of Tennessee,” Thompson said. Presidents nominate eligible faculty and staff from their campus for consideration for the program.

“Dr. Kiana Johnson has distinguished herself at ETSU through her leadership and research, and I look forward to this opportunity for her to collaborate with other leaders to share ideas that will make an impact on higher education across the state,” said ETSU President Dr. Brian Noland.

The program is named in honor of the late Maxine A. Smith, who headed the Memphis Branch of the NAACP for 33 years and was a member of the Tennessee Board of Regents from 1994 to 2006. The Class of 21-22 is the program’s 15th cohort.

“I am grateful to be part of the 2021-22 Maxine Smith cohort,” Johnson said. “I look forward to learning from the rich experiences represented in the cohort, augmenting my leadership expertise in advocating for health equity across communities, and upholding the fundamental ethos of health and wellbeing as an inalienable human right.”

This press release was produced by East Tennessee State University. The views expressed are the author's own.