African-American academic
Brian L. Johnson is an African-American academic and president of Warner Pacific University. 
He earned his Ph.D. in English in 2003 from the University of South Carolina, where he focus on American literature of the 17th-19th century. 
Johnson has held various administrative roles, including as president of Tuskegee University from 2017 to 2020 and Warner Pacific University from 2022 to present. 
He has also served as Vice President at Mercy University from 2018 to 2022 and Assistant Provost at Austin Peay State University. He has authored several scholarly books, including studies on W.E.B. Du Bois and the institutional history of Johnson C. Smith University.