Christine Johnson McPhail is an American academic administrator who was the thirteenth president of

St. Augustine's University Saint Augustine's University is a private historically black Christian college in Raleigh, North Carolina. It was founded by Episcopal Church clergy in 1867 for the education of formerly enslaved Black people. The university has traditional ...

from 2021 to 2023.

Life

McPhail was born to Mary and Otis Johnson. Her mother was a homemaker and her father was a

sharecropper Sharecropping is a legal arrangement in which a landowner allows a tenant (sharecropper) to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on that land. Sharecropping is not to be conflated with tenant farming, providing the tenant a ...

who later started a small business in

Tyler, Texas Tyler, officially the City of Tyler, is a city in and the county seat of Smith County, Texas, United States. As of 2020, the population is 105,995. Tyler was the List of municipalities in Texas, 38th most populous city in Texas (as well as the m ...

. She was raised in a rural town in

East Texas East Texas is a broadly defined cultural, geographic, and ecological region in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Texas that consists of approximately 38 counties. It is roughly divided into Northeast Texas, Northeast, Southeast Texas, Sout ...

. She attended from Emmett Scott High School. McPhail graduated from Fresno City College and earned a bachelor's degree in social work from Fresno State University. She worked for the Economic Opportunities Commission as a social worker for Head Start. She completed a master's degree in education and counseling from Fresno State University. McPhail began a doctoral program at

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

while working as a counselor at Contra Costa College. She later became an assistant dean of students and was promoted to dean at

College of Alameda College of Alameda is a public community college in Alameda, California. It is part of the Peralta Community College District and was opened in 1968. Since 1970 the college has held classes on a 62-acre campus at the intersection of Webster Str ...

. With the full-time position, she paused her doctoral studies. She later transferred to a part-time D.Ed. program in higher education at

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

. Her 1987 dissertation was titled, ''Academically Underprepared Students in the California Community Colleges''. Clive Grafton was her doctoral chairperson. McPhail became president of

Cypress College Cypress College is a public community college in Cypress, California. It is part of the California Community Colleges System and belongs to the North Orange County Community College District. It offers a variety of general education (55 associat ...

in 1995. She was its first Black and first female president. She stepped down in June 1998 after marrying her husband, Irving Pressley McPhail. She later joined

Morgan State University Morgan State University (Morgan State or MSU) is a Public university, public historically black colleges and universities, historically black research university in Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland. It is the largest of Maryland's historically bla ...

as the founding professor and director of its community college leadership doctoral program. McPhail was later a professor of practice at the John E. Roueche Center for Community College Leadership at

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant coll ...

. Following the death of her husband due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

in October 2020, she was selected to succeed him as the thirteenth president of

effective February 24, 2021. Her presidency ended in December 2023 and she was succeeded by acting president Leslie Rodriguez-McClellon.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McPhail, Christine Johnson Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) People from Tyler County, Texas Fresno City College alumni California State University, Fresno alumni University of Southern California alumni Cypress College people Morgan State University faculty Kansas State University faculty St. Augustine's University (North Carolina) faculty College of Alameda faculty Heads of historically black universities and colleges in the United States Women heads of universities and colleges 21st-century American women academics 21st-century African-American academics 21st-century American academics African-American women academic administrators American women academic administrators African-American academic administrators American social workers 21st-century African-American women writers 21st-century American women writers 21st-century African-American writers Academics from Texas