James_Sept-Oct_2025_web - Flipbook - Page 71
estled between
marshes and
beaches along
Georgia’s coastline,
shining in the sunshine of Georgia’s
Golden Isles, could perhaps sit one
of Georgia’s best kept secrets. But it
may not be such a secret anymore.
The College of Coastal Georgia is
continuing to have a major impact
on students and the region as it
grows by leaps and bounds. Education experts and stakeholders say
that under the leadership of President Dr. Johnny L. Evans Jr., the
institution is making waves in higher
education, workforce development
and community engagement—
all the while staying true to its
mission of transforming lives
through “every student,
every time.”
Not Just a Career, a Calling
For Evans, the journey to the
College of Coastal Georgia was anything but conventional. With a Ph.D.
in Physical Chemistry from the University of Florida and early research
experience in the oil and gas sector,
a lucrative career in that industry
was within easy reach. But a passion
for teaching and student mentorship
led him down a different path.
“They offered me $144,000 in
1998 to move to California and work
in oil flow assurance,” he says. “But
I turned that down to take a $38,500
teaching job because it wasn’t about
the money. It was about transforming students’ lives. And I know for
certain I made the right decision.
Today, it’s not just a job here, it’s a
life— and it feels like family.”
Evans spent the first 13 years of
his academic career at Lee University
in Cleveland, Tennessee, where he
was a Professor of Chemistry and
PRESIDENT DR. JOHNNY EVANS JR.
Physics and the Chemistry Program
Coordinator. Before joining Coastal
Georgia, he held leadership positions
as the Dean of Math and Science and
subsequently as the Dean of Arts and
Sciences at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College from 2013 to 2019.
He assumed the role of Provost
and Vice President for Academic
Affairs at the College of Coastal
Georgia on January 1, 2019, and was
named the seventh president of the
college just this past January.
He attributes much of his academic
success to the deep care and guidance provided by his own faculty
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