 Johnny Taylor, GR’91, LW’92 |
Johnny Taylor, GR’91, LW’92, recently was named CEO of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF).
The TMCF, named for the late U.S. Supreme Court associate justice, was established in 1987 and represents historically black colleges, universities and law schools. Over the last 23 years, TMCF has awarded more than $100 million in scholarships for leadership development and programmatic and capacity support.
“I could not be more excited about the opportunity to lead the nation’s pre-eminent organization committed to preparing the best and brightest leaders from our nation’s public historically black colleges and universities,” said Taylor, who lives in Charlotte, N.C.
“I will work tirelessly alongside the presidents of our 47 member institutions, our incredibly committed corporate and governmental partners and hard-working and talented TMCF Board of Directors and staff to build upon the legacy of Justice Thurgood Marshall. I am humbled by this awesome challenge, responsibility and opportunity.”
The TMCF Board of Directors selected Taylor based on his record of transformative leadership, strategic acumen and fundraising skills. When announcing the decision, the board also recognized Taylor for his corporate experience and commitment to higher education.
Taylor spent the last several years with IAC/InterActiveCorp, first as senior vice president of human resources and then as the president and CEO of IAC’s identity search engine. Before joining IAC, Taylor was a partner in the nationally operated McGuireWoods law firm.
He has served as general counsel and corporate secretary for Compass Group USA and has held several senior human resources and legal executive roles with Viacom subsidiaries, Blockbuster Entertainment and Paramount Pictures.
Taylor held the position of chairman for the Society for Human Resources Management, one of the world’s largest non-profit membership organizations with nearly 230,000 members in over 100 countries. There, he oversaw an organization of more than 300 employees and $100 million in annual revenue.
He has served also on the Board of Trustees at Drake and Johnson C. Smith University, the President’s Council at the University of Miami and the Board of Visitors of Queen’s University.
Taylor, who received his bachelor’s degree in communication from the University of Miami, earned a master’s degree in mass communication from Drake and a doctorate from the Drake Law School. While attending Drake, he served as a member of the University’s National Moot Court Team and as research editor of the Drake Law Review.
He is a member of the Florida, Illinois and Washington, D.C. bars, and holds a Senior Professional in Human Resources certification.