USF Names Biz School Dean Its New President

The University of St. Francis has announced that a Frankfort resident will be appointed as the University's ninth president.

The Board of Trustees will meet Feb. 28 to confirm the appointment of  Arvid C. Johnson, Ph.D. Johnson’s tenure will begin June 1.

“Arvid is a seasoned leader at multiple levels of education and business,” J.D. Ross, chairperson of the university’s Board of Trustees said in a written release. “He will bring great energy to USF as we all work together to build on the great strengths that our university already possesses.”

Johnson is presently the dean of the Brennan School of Business at Dominican University, where he also is a tenured professor of management and has taught undergraduate and graduate business courses.

He has a bachelor’s degree in physics from Lewis University in Romeoville and a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Northeastern University in Boston. Johnson also has a MBA from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, N.C., and a Ph.D. in management science from the Stuart School of Business at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago.

In August of 2012, USF created a search committee, which met for the first time that month as well. By September, they hired Witt/Kieffer, a national search firm based in Oak Brook, to assist in the process. In October, they began advertising the position and semi-finalist candidates were interviewed beginning in January 2013. By Jan. 24, the committee had settled on three final candidates, who all visited campus the first week in February.

Johnson has extensive experience in education both in a classroom setting and as an elected member of the Lincoln-Way Community High School District Board of Education since 2009 and as its president since 2011. He also has spent time in the business arena.

"Prior to beginning his career in higher education, Johnson was a principal in a management consulting firm and worked with companies ranging in size from startups to multi-million-dollar business units of Fortune 500 companies to describe, account for, explain and exploit the variability present in their manufacturing and service processes," The University of Saint Francis said in a written release. "He also has more than 15 years of engineering, manufacturing and senior management experience in a variety of business environments, including Northrop Grumman Corporation, Microwave Laboratories and Varian Associates. He also holds eight U.S. and dozens of foreign patents.

Johnson, his wife, three sons and two dogs reside in Frankfort.

You can read more about the search committee and examine Johnson's full resume by visiting the University of Saint Francis Web Site.

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