Debora Johnson-Ross, Ph.D.
HERS Board [Position]
Vice President of Academic Affairs/Dean of the Faculty
Wartburg College
Waverly, IA
Debora Johnson-Ross is vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty at Wartburg College. She was previously director of the Mayor’s Scholars Program at Baltimore City Community College. Prior to her work at BCCC, Johnson-Ross was the senior vice president of academic innovation at BridgeEdU, a company founded by anti-poverty advocate and author Wes Moore to increase college access and retention for underserved students. The company was acquired by Edquity in 2019.
At McDaniel College in Maryland, Johnson-Ross started as a visiting scholar in 2001 and left in 2016 after serving five years as associate dean for academic affairs. During her time as associate dean, she served as interim dean of the faculty for the spring 2013 semester. As the associate dean, Johnson-Ross was responsible for comprehensive curricular assessment, faculty professional development, new faculty orientation, and training faculty to serve as academic advisers. She helped establish McDaniel’s partnership with Africa University in Zimbabwe and led service-learning tours in both Cameroon and Zimbabwe.
She has served as a board director of Common Ground on the Hill, an organization that promotes social justice through the arts, and as an advisory board member for the Bryant Educational Leadership Group, which equips leaders to transform themselves, their communities, and the world.
Johnson-Ross grew up as a military dependent and lived all over the United States and Europe as a child. During her formative years, she learned to love people, cultures, foods, and adventure. As an adult, she continued that tradition and added more states and a number of African countries to her list of places where she has lived and visited, including teaching at the University of Buea in the southwest region of Cameroon as a Fulbright Scholar.
Johnson-Ross earned a Bachelor of Arts in government from Wofford College, a Master of Science in contract and acquisition management from Florida Institute of Technology, and a Master of Arts and doctorate in international studies from the University of South Carolina-Columbia.
