Christine Johnson McPhail | |
---|---|
13th President of St. Augustine's University | |
In office February 24, 2021 –December 2023 | |
Preceded by | Irving Pressley McPhail |
Succeeded by | Leslie Rodriguez-McClellon (acting) |
Personal details | |
Spouse | Irving Pressley McPhail (m. 1998;died 2020) |
Education | Fresno City College Fresno State University University of Southern California |
Christine Johnson McPhail is an American academic administrator who was the thirteenth president of St. Augustine's University from 2021 to 2023.
McPhail was born to Mary and Otis Johnson. [1] Her mother was a homemaker and her father was a sharecropper who later started a small business in Tyler, Texas. [2] She was raised in a rural town in East Texas. [1] She attended from Emmett Scott High School. [2] McPhail graduated from Fresno City College and earned a bachelor's degree in social work from Fresno State University. [2] She worked for the Economic Opportunities Commission as a social worker for Head Start. [2] She completed a master's degree in education and counseling from Fresno State University. [2]
McPhail began a doctoral program at University of California, Berkeley while working as a counselor at Contra Costa College. [2] She later became an assistant dean of students and was promoted to dean at College of Alameda. [2] With the full-time position, she paused her doctoral studies. [2] She later transferred to a part-time D.Ed. program in higher education at University of Southern California. [2] [3] Her 1987 dissertation was titled, Academically Underprepared Students in the California Community Colleges. [4] Clive Grafton was her doctoral chairperson. [4]
McPhail became president of Cypress College in 1995. [5] She was its first Black and first female president. [5] She stepped down in June 1998 after marrying her husband, Irving Pressley McPhail. [5] She later joined Morgan State University as the founding professor and director of its community college leadership doctoral program. [6] McPhail was later a professor of practice at the John E. Roueche Center for Community College Leadership at Kansas State University. [6] Following the death of her husband due to COVID-19 in October 2020, she was selected to succeed him as the thirteenth president of St. Augustine's University effective February 24, 2021. [7] [6] Her presidency ended in December 2023 and she was succeeded by acting president Leslie Rodriguez-McClellon. [8] [9]