TCU College of Education welcomes Dr. Melody Johnson

Former Fort Worth ISD superintendent joins TCU as Scholar in Residence

Fort Worth, Texas

8/17/2011

Dr. Melody Johnson, former superintendent of the Fort Worth Independent School District, will be joining the College of Education at TCU as the Scholar in Residence.

According to Dr. Mary Patton, dean of TCU’s College of Education, Dr. Johnson will work with the faculty in the educational leadership program to further develop a program that is “cutting edge and distinctive,” and will also teach a leadership class in the spring of 2012.

“We are delighted to have Dr. Johnson join our team,” Dr. Patton said. “Her vast experience as an administrator, along with her unmatched knowledge of the education system in Fort Worth and the State of Texas, are sure to prove invaluable for our many initiatives associated with the Center for Urban Education.”

Dr. Johnson joins TCU following a six-year tenure as superintendent of the Fort Worth Independent School District, an urban school system of 81,000 students and 12,000 employees in 81 elementary schools, 24 middle schools and 6th grade centers, 13 high schools and 21 special campuses.

“As Scholar in Residence, I will be vitally interested in improving leadership in urban school settings,” Dr. Johnson said. “I am excited about the conversations we have begun regarding hosting a national symposium on school governance, leadership institutes, cutting edge and innovative leadership development, and the focus on urban education under the leadership of Dean Patton.”

Dr. Johnson has dedicated more than three decades to service in public education. Most of her work has been in the nation’s urban school systems, facing the most challenging of educational issues. As superintendent of the Fort Worth Independent School District, she led the establishment of new and relevant curriculum, instituted measures of accountability and sound business practices, and established Fort Worth as a “Digital District.” Dr. Johnson has also deeply engaged the community and led broad-based public initiatives showing local leaders how they can positively impact academic success and increase school completion rates. A graduate of Phillips University in Enid, Okla., Dr. Johnson received her M.Ed. degree from Texas Woman's University and her Ph.D. in educational administration from the University of Texas, Austin.

To learn more about TCU’s College of Education and the Center for Urban Education, visit coe.tcu.edu.