Dr. Don Johnson joins the Educational Administration faculty

05 Aug 2022     By Dijon DeLaPorte

The Department of Educational Administration is excited to announce that Dr. Don Johnson has joined the department as an assistant professor of practice in P-12 school leadership this semester. “The opportunity to join the staff at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln is a dream come true. Teaching has always been a passion of mine and after 31 years serving as a school administrator, I am excited to get back to it,” says Johnson. “I look forward to working with the excellent Department of Educational Administration staff in furthering the mission of UNL.”

Born and raised in St. Edward Nebraska, Johnson is a true Husker fan and is blessed to be working for them. Johnson has been in rural education for a majority of his career and understands the challenges rural schools face. Johnson earned his Bachelor of Science degree at Kearney State College, and a master’s degree in educational administration and Ed. D. from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Johnson has a long history in public education which includes serving as industrial arts and physical education teacher for Waterloo (NE) Public Schools, as industrial arts and biology teacher, and as an alternative school principal for the Heartland Educational Center in Omaha. Following those assignments, Dr. Johnson served for twenty years as secondary school principal at the Fort Calhoun Public Schools before serving as superintendent from 2010-2020.As a new faculty member, he said his interests include school improvement, school climate and culture, urban and rural education, instructional leadership, and strategic planning.

“Dr. Johnson is a lifelong educator, school leader, and Nebraskan,” said Dr. Nick Pace, chair of the department. “He’s walked the walk of school leadership and the superintendency. Dr. Johnson’s rich leadership experience, passion for growth, equity, and excellence, and the energy he brings are terrific additions to our EDAD team.”