Alumni Achievement Award: This is given to a GMC alumnus who recognizes the importance of their education at GMC and exemplifies the core values of “Duty, Honor, Country” and “Character Above All” in their professional and personal lives. Their interest and loyalty is evident through their contributions of time, talents, and/or philanthropic support to GMC.
Dr. Marcus E. Johnson JC 1993
Dr. Marcus Johnson was a first-generation college student when he attended GMC, graduating from the Junior College in 1993. Now, he is the Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC) in his hometown of Tifton, Georgia. Dr. Johnson shared that there is no doubt that the experiences he learned as a Cadet and a student-athlete at GMC helped cultivate the values and talents that have translated to his success as a coach, teacher, professor, and college administrator.
After graduating from GMC in 1993, Dr. Johnson went on to earn his Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Philosophy at The University of Georgia in 1997. He also earned his Master’s in Philosophy from Georgia State University in 2005, and his Ph.D. in Educational Theory and Practice from The University of Georgia in 2014.
He began his esteemed career in education and taught at Westbrook School in Quitman, Georgia, Monroe Academy in Forsyth, Georgia, as well as at Cedar Shoals High School in Athens, Georgia. From 2011-2013, he served as University Supervisor and Graduate Instructor at the University of Georgia.
In 2015, he began working at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, serving as an assistant professor. From 2017- 2019, he was an Assistant Professor and Education Department Head at ABAC, and since 2019, he has served as Associate Professor, Director of Faculty Development, and Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning. In 2021, Dr. Johnson was named Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs: Teaching, Learning, and Engagement at ABAC. He retained his role as Director of Faculty Development and the Center for Teaching and Learning positions.
In 2016, Dr. Johnson was a University System of Georgia Governor’s Teaching Fellow nominee and was a University System of Georgia Chancellor’s Scholar in 2018.
Dr. Johnson’s work has been widely published in a variety of publications, including the Journal of the Georgia Philological Association, the International Journal of Social Studies Education, and the Journal of Philosophy and History of Education. Over the past twenty years, he has presented numerous scholarly presentations at conferences across the state.
While working at ABAC, Dr. Johnson has served the institution and its students in a variety of ways. In 2017, he was the college’s representative to the Georgia Educator Preparation Program meetings. In addition, he was an Advisory Board Member for the Destination AG Program, Executive Board Member and Reviewer for the Georgia Philological Association and was a Research Reviewer for the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education. Dr. Johnson also served on the Gail Dillard Faculty Enrichment Grant Review
Committee and in 2020, created the ABAC Faculty Development Newsletter.
As Director of Faculty Development and the Center for Teaching and Learning, Dr. Johnson has recruited, organized, and run multiple Faculty Learning Groups on two different campuses, developed and implemented a New Faculty Teaching Mentorship Program, and has written a bi-weekly article for the student newspaper about the science of learning.
Dr. Johnson is married to Katherine Melcher, professor of Landscape Architecture at The University of Georgia. He has a son, Alex, who is studying piano at Valdosta State.
