Rana Johnson, Kansas State University’s Vice President for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging, was honored with this year’s Frank Abbott Award at the Institute on Teaching and Mentoring Oct. 30 to Nov. 3 in New Orleans, Louisiana.

A former Southern Regional Education Board State Doctoral Program scholar, Dr. Johnson has worked as a volunteer, recruiter, presenter and, most recently, a member of the SREB Regional Advisory Committee since graduating from the University of Kentucky in 2001. Johnson, who has personally sponsored numerous student attendees, has not missed a single Institute gathering.

“What you do is important,”  Johnson said after a surprise presentation by Ansley Abraham, director of the SREB-State Doctoral Scholars Program. “You must always persevere and never give up.”

The most prestigious recognition awarded at the Institute on Teaching and Mentoring, the Abbott Award is given to an individual who has made significant and sustained contributions to the Institute. It has been awarded only 10 times in the Institute’s 31-year history. The last recipient was Elizabeth S. Boylan, director of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation’s programs on STEM higher education in 2018.

The honor is named for Frank Abbott, the first director of the Compact for Faculty Diversity. Abbott was responsible for bringing together three regional higher education compacts – the Western Interstate Commission of Higher Education, the New England Higher Education Board and SREB – to form the Compact, which established the Institute on Teaching and Mentoring.

 “Born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, Dr. Johnson has earned significant achievements during her career,” Abraham said. Dr. Johnson’s journey in her career has been extraordinary.”  

Contact: Janita Poe, SREB News Manager, at Janita.Poe@sreb.org or 404-879-5516, ext. 216

The Southern Regional Education Board works with states, districts and schools to improve education at every level, from early childhood through doctoral education and the workforce. An interstate compact and a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization based in Atlanta, SREB was created in 1948 by Southern governors and legislatures to advance education and improve the social and economic life of the region.