Event Description:
The Ole School Alumni Scholarship Group (OSASG) and the African, African American, and Diaspora (AAAD) Studies Center celebrated an evening filled with songs and dance to celebrate Black History Month with the special recognition of Deborah Tompkins Johnson. MC’d by Alana Galbert.
Features
Honoring Deborah Tompkins Johnson
Deborah Tompkins Johnson is a writer, Vice-Rector of James Madison University’s Board of Visitors, emeritus board member of the Dominion Energy Credit Union, and vice president of the Board of Trustees for the Joe Gibb’s Youth for Tomorrow, a Christian organization that operated a residential campus for troubled, abandoned, or abused youth and offers community-based services for at-risk youth and their families.
Born in 1956 in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, Tompkins Johnson moved to Petersburg, Virginia after her father went to serve in the Vietnam War. She attended Peabody High School until eighth grade, the earliest publicly funded high school for African American students in Virginia. She graduated from Petersburg High School, a predominantly white high school, in 1974.
Tompkins Johnson enrolled in the communication and journalism program at Madison College in 1974, at the time, a predominantly white university. During her time at Madison College, she became vice president and then president of the Black Student Alliance. In 1976, she became a member of Delta Sigma Theta, the first Black Greek sorority on campus. Along with her sorority sisters, Tompkins Johnson performed the first step show at Madison College. She was also a member of the Contemporary Gospel Singers. She graduated in 1978.
After graduating, Tompkins Johnson first worked as a substitute teacher at Petersburg High School. She then went on to work for Pan-American World Airways in Washington DC as a reservation sales agent. During her time there, she began writing for the Pan-Am’s Clipper newsletter, as well as for the Fox Trap magazine where she was able to develop her writing. She moved on to work as a reporter and later, a news director for WVPT. On the advice of a fellow JMU Alum, Tompkins Johnson was able to get her first job on television at WXEX TV, an ABC affiliate. The later years of her career were spent at Dominion Energy where she first served as the company’s spokesperson for the Northern Virginia area. She then held leadership positions in Customer Service, Energy Efficiency, and Key Accounts departments.
In 1988, Deborah Tompkins Johnson became a member of JMU’s Board of Visitors. Her association with JMU and its community also includes her involvement with the Black Alumni Scholarship, the Black Alumni Chapter, and the Foundation Board.
Aside from JMU’s Board of Visitors, Tompkins Johnson has also served on several other boards in Northern Virginia such as the Northern Virginia Chamber, Alexandria Chamber, Chair of the Valor Awards Committee and VP-Development, and Chair of the Prince William Regional Chapter.
In 2013, she published her book How Did They Do That? – Career Highlights, Triumphs & Challenges, a collection of success and personal stories gathered from interviews she conducted with successful people. In 2019, she published a companion journal to her book.
How Did They Do That? – Career Highlights, Triumphs & Challenges
How Did They Do That? by Deborah Johnson features interviews with successful individuals who share their career experiences, including their achievements, setbacks, and lessons learned. Johnson explores the key moments and decisions that have shaped their journeys, revealing common threads among their stories. The book offers insights and inspiration for readers to reflect on their own goals and aspirations.
Special Thanks
