Katherine Johnson, a candidate for college president, impresses staff and trustees with her credentials, confidence and humor.
By REBECCA CATALANELLO
Published September 10, 2004
NEW PORT RICHEY - Katherine Johnson carried the microphone in her tight fist and darted from one question-asker to another, Phil Donahue style.
She kept the crowd's attention. She made them laugh and smile.
Before the 90-minute question-answer session had ended, the 53-year-old Johnson was familiar enough with some of the Pasco-Hernando Community College faculty to rib them in her friendly Southern drawl.
As the second of three candidates interviewing to replace retiring PHCC president Robert Judson, Johnson made a splash last week when she took questions from a standing room only crowd at the school's west campus. She endured a second round of questions by PHCC's board of trustees.
"I was very impressed," said Lydia Massias, professor of nursing. "I thought she was very articulate, very professional, very dynamic. She certainly seems to fit all of our needs."
Johnson is president of Nash Community College in Rocky Mount, N.C. She said, if hired, she'd like to stay at PHCC until retirement - about 10 years. She holds degrees from Florida Community College at Jacksonville, University of West Florida, University of Montevallo and Florida Atlantic University.
She rose from guidance counselor to vice president during her 17 years at Indian River Community College in Fort Pierce.
Also in the running are Paul Szuch, 58, PHCC's vice president and sole internal candidate, and Carl Hite, 58, president of Cleveland State Community College in Tennessee. Szuch interviewed Aug. 25 and 26. Hite will be on campus Tuesday and Wednesday.
"The best success a leader can have is to surround themselves with really, really good people," Johnson said. She sold her guidance counselor beginnings as an asset, saying it gave her the student-centered focus necessary to lead.
Johnson was the top vote-getter among 23 qualified applicants reviewed by a search committee in June. She was the top vote-getter again when the board of trustees narrowed the list a second time from 10 to three.
Many of the questions students and staff asked were about Nash. Does the school have a child care center? Yes, and she often retreats there to rock an infant or two, she said. What was her relationship like with the faculty senate? Good, but it started out rocky when she imposed a mandatory dress code just after arriving.
Language arts professor Carmine Bell asked Johnson if she has ever experienced gender bias in her profession.
"I have never had to use my gender to either get a job or not get a job," Johnson answered. "I try to present a leadership style that - for lack of a better word - is neutered."
Then she joked about the time a reporter asked her how it felt to be the first female president at Nash: "I don't know how else to feel," she chuckled. "I've always been a woman."
If Johnson lands the job when the board of trustees makes its decision Oct. 26, she will become PHCC's third chief - the first woman.
