- Posted in All University
- Category: Campus News
LINCOLN UNIVERSITY, PA – Philadelphia community development leader and lead pastor of Dare to Imagine Church in Philadelphia, Rev. Dr. Kevin R. Johnson will deliver Lincoln University’s 156th Commencement Address to more than 375 undergraduate and graduate students on Friday, May 8 at 9 a.m. in the university’s stadium.
Dr. Johnson, also vice chairman of the university’s Board of Trustees, is the president and CEO of Opportunities Industrialization Center (OIC) of Philadelphia, which assists unemployed, underemployed and disadvantaged youth and adults achieve self-sufficiency and empowerment through education, training, job placement, human services, housing and economic development.
“The selection of Dr. Johnson as Commencement Speaker offers a practical example for our graduates of someone who has not only excelled academically, but who is also committed to advancing his community through empowerment and economic development,” said Kimberly A. Lloyd, chairwoman of the Lincoln University Board of Trustees. “I know his speech will arouse, inspire and encourage our students as they embark on their professional lives.”
A Phi Beta Kappa scholar and Magna Cum Laude graduate of Morehouse College, who was awarded the Martin Luther King, Jr. and Oprah Winfrey scholarships, he earned a Master of Divinity degree as a Union Scholar from Union Theological Seminary, and later earned the Doctor of Education (Ed.D) degree in Organizational Leadership and Transformational Learning from Columbia University.
Prior to leading OIC, Dr. Johnson served as president and CEO of Bridge of Hope Community Development Corporation. Under his leadership, a $100 million, 14-story student apartment tower for Temple University students was built with its development partner, The Goldenberg Group.
While senior pastor at Bright Hope Baptist Church, he was also instrumental in promoting economic empowerment by investing and depositing millions of dollars into United Bank, a Philadelphia owned and operated African-American bank.
The astute clergyman and speaker, who was featured in Newsweek as one of the “up-and-coming” national post-Civil Rights minister, has also delivered speeches to congregations internationally, including South Korea’s Yoido Full Gospel Church – the largest Protestant church in the world and Freetown, Sierra Leone’s Regent Road Baptist, where he was the first African-American in 200 years to speak at Africa’s oldest Baptist church. He was also later inspired to raise funds, build and establish a new church in West Africa — Bright Hope Baptist Church in Moyamba, Sierra Leone.
In addition, Dr. Johnson traveled to Israel and Palestine by invitation of the American Jewish Committee and met government leaders to discuss the challenges that exist between the nations.
A frequent columnist for the oldest continually running African-American newspaper, The Philadelphia Tribune, he has been a guest on CNN, NBC, MSNBC, ABC, FOX NEWS, and other national media. Aside from Lincoln’s Board of Trustees, Dr. Johnson serves on the boards of the Urban League of Philadelphia, the Forum for a Better Pennsylvania and the Mayor’s Voter Task Force. In addition, he served previously on the Obama Campaign’s National African-American Clergy Advisory Board.
Dr. Johnson is married to Mrs. Kimya S. P. Johnson, Esq., a labor and employment attorney at the law firm of Cozen O’Connor. They are Philadelphia residents and are proud parents of three children.
Founded in 1854, The Lincoln University (PA) is the FIRST of four Lincoln Universities in the world and is the nation’s FIRST degree-granting Historically Black College and University (HBCU). The University combines the elements of a liberal arts and science-based undergraduate curriculum along with select graduate programs to meet the needs of those living in a highly technological and global society. Today, Lincoln, which enrolls a diverse student body of approximately 2,000 men and women, possesses an international reputation for preparing and producing world-class leaders such as Thurgood Marshall, the FIRST African American U.S. Supreme Court Justice; Lillian Fishburne, the FIRST African American woman promoted to Rear Admiral in the U.S. Navy; Langston Hughes, the noted poet; Kwame Nkrumah, the FIRST president of Ghana; Nnamdi Azikiwe, the FIRST president of Nigeria and a myriad of others.