Tuskegee University News May 17, 2016 Tuskegee University president to receive first honorary degree from Mercy College Dr. Brian L. Johnson, Tuskegee University president, will soon receive one of the highest honors an institution of higher education can bestow. Mercy College will present Johnson with his first honorary degree, underscoring his visionary leadership of one of the most storied universities in the nation and his impressive array of academic accomplishments. Johnson Johnson will serve as Mercy's Spring Commencement speaker on Wednesday at 4 p.m. EST. After speaking to approximately 1,200 students in the Westchester County Center located in White Plains, N.Y., he will receive the honorary Doctorate of Letters degree from the institution. Mercy's President Tim Hall will present the degree to Johnson. "I am very pleased that the Mercy College Board of Trustees upon the recommendation of President Tim Hall has granted my first honorary doctorate. On behalf of my family and Tuskegee University community, I am deeply humbled and equally enthusiastic to speak into the lives of the spring 2016 graduates of Mercy College," Johnson said. Johnson was named as Tuskegee's seventh president in 2014. Signal accomplishments reflecting Tuskegee University's tradition and trajectory under Johnson's leadership include but are not limited to the following: the implementation of fully online degree programs, enhanced infrastructure and technology, a new electronic employee evaluation system, new outcomes, accreditation, budget, planning and student co-curricular modules, online transcripts, putting the "A" in STEM with a new Music and Visual Arts Program, the Tuskegee University Lyceum Series, and new student engagement initiatives. "President Brian Johnson is the respected leader of a major American university and precisely the kind of role model we like to hold up for our students to emulate," Hall said. "His many accomplishments as an academic, a university administrator, and now a university president are well deserving of an honorary degree." To watch the live stream, go to: www.mercy.edu<http://www.mercy.edu/> SANDRA M. PHOENIX Executive Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 800-999-8558, ext. 4820 404-592-4820 Skype: sandra.phoenix1 Follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/hbculibraryalliance1/ 1438 West Peachtree NW Suite 200 Atlanta,GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (LYRASIS) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children.