Regional campuses name new vice president and dean of academic affairs

Jeffrey Johnson will oversee academic life at the University of Pittsburgh’s Bradford and Titusville campuses as their next vice president and dean of academic affairs.

Johnson has been serving as dean of the Insalaco College of Arts and Sciences at Marywood University in Scranton, Pennsylvania, since 2020. He will begin his duties at the Pitt campuses on July 1. David Fitz, who has been filling the role for the past two years while a national search was conducted for the position, will remain at Pitt-Bradford as vice president of institutional integration and community.

In his new position, Johnson’s duties will include curriculum review and planning, faculty hiring and development, academic support services and academic-related campus programming.

“Jeff’s previous academic leadership has positioned him well to serve and succeed as our chief academic officer and help us rise to new levels of academic excellence,” said Pitt-Bradford President Richard Esch.

Before his time at Marywood, Johnson spent 22 years at the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut, where he began as a member of the music faculty in 1998. He also served in several other faculty and administrative roles, including as a retention specialist, director of the music program and assistant provost for student success.

A native of Jamestown, New York, Johnson earned his Bachelor of Music in composition from Ithaca College and a Master of Music in composition from the Eastman School of Music before completing his Doctor of Musical Arts in composition at Boston University.

He began his career as the associate director of artistic education and chair of the music theory department from 1994 to 1998 at the Boys Choir of Harlem, a famous children’s choir in New York City that performed around the world from 1968 to 2007, including concerts at the White House and United Nations.

Johnson said although his work in academic administration may seem very different from his work as a musician on its face, he doesn’t see it that way.

“I really think of administration being an ensemble,” he said, adding that he finds the same joy in administrative work that he finds in teaching. “I love collaborating and working with people.”

Outside of academia, Johnson has served as a music critic and collects historic LP recordings of opera performances and 19th-century handwritten journals. He and his wife, Yumin, plan to live in Bradford.

— Kimberly Marcott Weinberg