KSU Cabinet Members for Academic Year 2007-2008

Daniel S. Papp
President

Lendley C. Black
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs

Randy C. Hinds
Vice President for Operations
Chief Information Officer/Chief Business Officer
and Professor of Information Systems

Nancy S. King
Vice President for Student Success and Enrollment Services

Wesley K. Wicker
Vice President for University Advancement and Executive Director of KSU Foundation

Flora B. Devine
Special Assistant to the President for Legal Affairs and Diversity

Arlethia Perry-Johnson
Special Assistant to the President for External Affairs

Sarah Robbins
Faculty Executive Assistant to the President

Lynda K. Johnson
Executive Assistant to the President

Daniel S. Papp
President

Daniel S. Papp became the third president of Kennesaw State University July 1, 2006. Prior to being named president by the Board of Regents, Papp served as senior vice chancellor for academics and fiscal affairs of the University System of Georgia. Senior vice chancellor since 2000, Papp was responsible for system-wide academic, faculty and student issues and concerns; business and financial affairs; academic and business information-technology systems; and strategic planning affecting all of the university system’s 35 institutions. Before becoming senior vice chancellor, Papp directed educational programs for Yamacraw, Georgia’s initiative to become the global leader in broadband technologies and components. Papp served as interim president of Southern Polytechnic State University from 1997 to 1998 and as executive assistant to the president at Georgia Tech from 1994 to 1997.

An international affairs expert, Papp was the founding director of Georgia Tech’s Sam Nunn School of International Affairs from 1990 to 1993 and director of the Georgia Tech School of Social Sciences from 1980 to 1990. He joined Georgia Tech’s faculty in 1973 as an assistant professor of international affairs. While at Tech, Papp was also visiting professor at the Western Australia Institute of Technology; research professor at the Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College; senior research professor at the Center for Aerospace Doctrine, Research and Education of the U.S. Air War College; and visiting professor at Fudan University in Shanghai. In 1993, Papp was selected Georgia Tech’s “Distinguished Professor,” the first time the honor was awarded to someone other than an engineer or physical scientist. He has twice been awarded the U.S. Department of the Army’s “Outstanding Civilian Service” medal.

A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Dartmouth College, Papp received his doctorate in international affairs from the University of Miami. His academic specialties include international security policy, U.S. and Russian foreign and defense policies, and international system change. He is the author or editor of 10 books on these topics, including the biography of former U.S. Secretary of State Dean Rusk. He also has published more than 60 journal articles and chapters in edited books.

Many organizations have funded Papp’s research, including the U.S. Department of the Army, the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Information Agency, the U.S. Institute of Peace, the U.S. Department of Education and NATO. He has traveled widely in the former USSR, China, Europe, Southeast Asia, Latin America and Africa. He has held a Sloan Scholarship and a National Defense Education Act Fellowship.

Papp is past chairman of the American-Soviet Relations and Southern Sections of the International Studies Association, senior fellow for international security at the Southern Center for International Studies, and a member of the Society of International Business Fellows.

Papp is married to Susan Lord Papp. He has two sons, William and Alexander; two stepsons, Michael and Benjamin; and a granddaughter, Elena. He has served on the Church Council of the Lutheran Church of the Resurrection in Marietta, Ga., and coached youth basketball and football. He is a past captain of the Miami, Atlanta and Georgia Tech rugby football clubs. He has also been a participant in several Friendship Force home-stay programs in Russia.

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Lendley C. Black
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs
Professor of Theatre and Performance Studies

Dr. Lendley C. Black (Lynn) joined Kennesaw State University as Vice President for Academic Affairs in August 2002. In the summer of 2006, he assumed the added responsibilities of Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs under KSU’s new president, Dr. Daniel S. Papp. He previously served nine years as Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Emporia State University in Kansas.

Dr. Black is a Professor of Theatre and Performance Studies at KSU and continues to teach both major and general education courses. In addition to his academic work at Kennesaw State University, he also taught and directed major theatre productions at Emporia State University, the University of Kansas, the University of Connecticut, and the University of Tennessee at Martin. His teaching interests include directing, theatre performance, theatre history, dramatic literature, theatre appreciation, and fine arts. A member of the honor society of Phi Kappa Phi, Dr. Black’s primary research area is Russian theatre and drama. He wrote a biography about Michael Chekhov, and gave lectures about Chekhov and other aspects of theatre at several international conferences. In fall 2006, he presented at the Shanghai Theatre Academy’s International Symposium of Drama School Directors, his third invitational lecture at this distinguished theatre institution.  Dr. Black has also published in the areas of academic advising and academic program assessment. 

A native of Memphis, Tennessee, Dr. Black has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Tennessee at Martin, a Master of Arts degree in theatre from the University of Connecticut, and a Ph.D. degree in theatre from the University of Kansas.

Dr. Black is active in several community and global initiatives and has held leadership positions in such organizations as United Way (appointed chairman for 2007 Cobb County United Way campaign), Habitat for Humanity, and Kiwanis. In September of 2006, he traveled to China with a delegation led by Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin and the Atlanta Metro Chamber of Commerce. 

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Randy C. Hinds

Vice President for Operations
Chief Information Officer/Chief Business Officer
and Professor of Information Systems

Randy C. Hinds is Vice President for Operations, and chief information officer at Kennesaw State University. He is also the chief human resources officer with parallel responsibility for the university’s HR mission. Hinds joined Kennesaw State as the university’s first CIO in 1998. He has oversight responsibility for all academic and administrative information activities, including the university’s library and archives.

Hinds came to KSU after completing a distinguished 30-year military career where he served in a variety of information technology leadership positions. His final military assignment was at the National Defense University in Washington D.C., where he served in leadership roles with the School of Information Warfare and Strategy, and the Department of Defense’s Command and Control Research Program.

Hinds’ research interests include investigating the relationship between information systems and organizational learning. He holds professor of information systems status at KSU and lectures within the university’s graduate and undergraduate communications, computer science, and information systems degree programs. At the national level, he has served as a key member of the EDUCAUSE Current Issues Committee charged with identifying the critical information technology issues facing higher education institutions.

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Nancy S. King
Vice President for Student Success and Enrollment Services

Nancy S. King is vice president for student success and enrollment services and professor of English at Kennesaw State University. Prior to this position, King was associate vice president in student affairs, director of the CAPS Center, and coordinator of the New Student Experience program at Kennesaw State. King holds a B.A. in English and psychology from Mercer University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in English from Georgia State University.

King is active in numerous professional organizations and has held leadership roles in many associations. She served as president of the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) from 1997-1999. Other leadership roles in NACADA include: public college representative (1987-89); chair, 1992 National Conference in Atlanta; and vice president for member services (1993-95). She has published in the field of academic advising and freshmen seminar programs and serves frequently as a consultant to colleges and universities in the area of advising, freshmen-year experience programs, and student success. King has made presentations on these topics at state, regional, national and international conferences. She has also published and presented on the topic of collaboration between student affairs and academic affairs. King has been a fellow in the American Association of State Colleges and Universities' Academic Leadership Academy and is listed in Who's Who in American Education. In July 2004, King was a faculty member at the Oxford Round Table in Oxford, England.

At KSU, King has served on and chaired many committees, including the Strategic Planning Committee. King is the chartering advisor of the KSU chapter of the Golden Key National Honor Society and is a member of a National Advisory Board for Golden Key. She was selected the Outstanding Administrator at Kennesaw State in 1988 and received the Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award from the Student Government Association in 1992. King was the recipient of the 1994 Betty L. Siegel Award for Outstanding Scholarship, Leadership, and Service, presented by the KSU Alumni Association. 

King has received numerous national awards. In 1998 she was awarded the first-ever Outstanding Advisor of the Year award at the Golden Key International Conference; in 1999 she received the Outstanding First-Year Student Advocate award from the National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition at the University of South Carolina Houghton Mifflin Company; in 2000 she received the Virginia N. Gordon Award for Excellence in the Field of Advising from the National Academic Advising Association; and in 2001 she received the Service to NACADA Award from the National Academic Advising Association. King was honored as a Woman of Achievement by the Northwest Georgia YWCA in 2006.

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Wesley K. Wicker, Ed.D
Vice President for University Advancement and Executive Director of KSU Foundation

Wesley K. Wicker has served as Vice President of Advancement for Kennesaw State University since September 1, 2002. Dr. Wicker also became Executive Director of the KSU Foundation as of January 1, 2005. His current responsibilities include serving as a member of the President’s Cabinet and supervising the departments of:

Wicker spent the previous five years Vice President of Major Gifts for United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta (1997-2002). He worked in a similar capacity with United Way of Central Indiana from 1995-1997. His development experience also includes five years as Director of Funds for Leadership and Education, Inc., a public foundation headquartered in Indianapolis, IN; and four years as Director of Alumni & Development at Georgia Southwestern State University in Americus.

He earned a doctoral degree in Higher Education Administration from the Institute of Higher Education at the University of Georgia in 1990, a Master’s degree in History from Georgia Southwestern in 1985, and a BA in History from the University of Alabama in 1981.

Wicker has served as President of the Foundation Chapter of Theta Chi Fraternity, Inc., a private 501(c)(3) educational endowment (1996-2002). He has also served as a faculty member for NAV (the National Academy of Volunteerism for United Way of America) and a presenter at CASE (the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education).  He has served as chairman of the Major Gifts Roundtable for United Way of America (2000-2002) and The Foundations Seminar in Indianapolis, IN (1992-1994).

He is currently the Finance Chairman for the Fulton County School Board Foundation and the President of the Kiwanis Club of Atlanta.

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Flora B. Devine
Special Assistant to the President for Legal Affairs and Diversity

Flora B. Devine, special assistant to the president for legal affairs and diversity at Kennesaw State University, is an attorney and educator. During her legal career, she has represented management in government, in the private sector and in higher education.  Her career in education includes executive-level administrative positions in legal affairs, organizational planning and marketing, and human resources. 

Devine began her career as a city attorney in the City of Atlanta Law Department and later joined a private law firm. Before joining the administration at DeKalb College as legal counsel, she worked with the Federal Environmental Protection Agency Region V. Devine has been an adjunct professor at Clark College, Georgia State University and Kennesaw State, teaching communications law, higher education law, conflict resolution and multiculturalism in education. She is a frequent trainer and consultant on workplace legal issues, including conflict resolution and mediation, and managing diversity issues in the workplace (including discrimination and equal employment issues such as sexual harassment, and leadership and organizational change). She is the architect of KSU’s New View of the Future Strategic Plan (1995) and the university’s first strategic plan for managing diversity (2001).

Devine’s recent community service includes past chair of the Georgia Indigent Defense Council (2004) and the Georgia Supreme Court Commission on Indigent Defense that developed the blueprint for overhauling the state system that provides lawyers for persons who cannot afford them. She is a former board member (two terms) of the National Association of College and University Attorneys and a Fellow of the American Council on Education.

Devine was recently inducted into the Martin Luther King, Jr. Board of Sponsors at Morehouse College in Atlanta.

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Arlethia Perry-Johnson
Special Assistant to the President for External Affairs

Arlethia Perry-Johnson, special assistant to the president for external affairs, joined Kennesaw State University in October 2006 after serving nearly 12 years as associate vice chancellor for media and publications with the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. Her current responsibilities at KSU include serving as a member of the President’s Cabinet, supervising the University Relations department, and managing the university's legislative, community and public affairs.

Perry-Johnson has enjoyed a 25-year communications career that spans public, investor and media relations, launched after early success in print journalism and commercial and cable television.

Perry-Johnson joined the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia in February 1995 as an assistant vice chancellor, charged with building a new public relations operation and with elevating the university system's national profile. Named associate vice chancellor for media and publications in September 2002, she developed and implemented communications strategies that impacted, positioned and marketed the state's 35 public colleges and universities. Among her duties, Perry-Johnson served the Board of Regents as chief spokesperson, working daily with local, regional, national and international media, campus presidents and a wide array of statewide constituents. In addition, she served as project director of the university systemís nationally recognized African-American Male Initiative, aimed at enhancing black male participation in college, which she continues in her role at Kennesaw State.

Perry-Johnson launched her professional communications career as a junior in college, working as a general assignments reporter for the New Pittsburgh Courier. Moving from print to television, she worked as an assistant to the producer for "PM Magazine/Los Angeles" and as a co-anchor for a live cable television public affairs program, "On Cable Tonight," in Memphis, Tenn.

Perry-Johnson joined the public information department at Penn State University Park as a writer/editor in 1984. In 1987, she was promoted to director of university relations at Penn State Great Valley in suburban Philadelphia. She continued her career in increasingly responsible positions, serving as director of media and external relations at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey; as manager of national (and investor) media relations for the Tennessee Valley Authority; and as executive director of the news bureau at Virginia Commonwealth University, where she was responsible for new operations on the academic and medical campuses.

Perry-Johnson also wrote as a freelance writer, contributing to such publications as the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Philadelphia Tribune, Black Issues in Higher Education and other outlets.

A wife and mother, Perry-Johnson also is active in several professional and civic organizations. In 2004, she served as one of the co-conveners of the "State of the African American Male" conference in Atlanta, an initiative of U.S. Congressman Danny Davis. She is a graduate of the 2003-2004 Associates Program of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, based in San Jose, Calif. She also is a graduate of the 1997 Class of Leadership Georgia and is included in the publication "Who's Who in Black Atlanta." Perry-Johnson serves on the executive committee of the Georgia Council on Economic Education and chaired its communications committee for four years. In addition, she serves on the board of directors and the executive committee of Communities In Schools of Georgia. She is a member and former secretary of the board of trustees of Region III of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). In 2001, she served as the program co-chair for CASE IIIís regional conference. She is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists and the Atlanta Association of Black Journalists (AABJ), and chaired AABJ's Minority Scholarship Competition for two years (1998, 1999). Perry-Johnson also has been a Georgia network organizer for the Ms. Foundation's "Take Our Daughters To Work Day" event, which she supported upon its inception in 1993.

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Sarah Robbins, Ph.D
Faculty Executive Assistant to the President

Sarah Robbins is the faculty executive assistant to the president, the first to hold this post at Kennesaw State University. A professor of English and English education, Robbins was named KSU's first Foundation Distinguished Professor in 2004-2005. Robbinsí research agenda draws from both the scholarship of discovery and newer models of public engagement. She is the author of "Managing Literacy, Mothering America: Womenís Narratives on Reading and Writing in the Nineteenth Century," which won an American Library Association Choice Award for outstanding academic writing, and "The Cambridge Introduction to Harriet Beecher Stowe," to be published in early 2007 by Cambridge University Press. Winner of the American Studies Associationís Constance Rourke Prize for outstanding scholarship, Robbins has published in a wide range of academic journals and has been a lecturer-facilitator for the U.S. State Departmentís program in American literature.

Robbins is director of the Keeping and Creating American Communities (KCAC) program, an interdisciplinary curriculum development project initially funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, and she was founding director of the National Writing Project (NWP) site at Kennesaw State — the Kennesaw Mountain Writing Project. Two books Robbins co-edited present collaborative research from KCAC partnerships for public scholarship: "Writing Our Communities: Local Learning and Public Culture" (National Council of Teachers of English press) and "Writing America: Classroom Literacy as Public Work" (published by Columbia U/Teachers College Press).

Robbins' current research projects include a scholarly edition of public writings by Nellie Arnott Darling, a missionary teacher who served in Angola (then Portuguese West Africa) in the early 20th century, and a book about womenís cross-cultural teaching narratives. Robbins' work on missionary teachers is part of an ongoing research partnership with professor Emerita Ann Pullen of KSU's department of history and philosophy — a collaboration that has also included team teaching in womenís studies and the development of a Web site on women's work in the long 19th century. With English department colleagues Dede Yow, Carol Harrell and Linda Stewart, as well as K-12 affiliates of the Kennesaw Mountain Writing Project, Robbins has also co-written and co-edited "Teachers' Writing Groups," published by the Kennesaw State University Press.

Robbins teaches courses in American studies, gender studies, American literature, English education, literacy studies and writing. An award-winning teacher with both K-12 and university classroom experience, Robbins facilitates faculty development programs in a wide range of settings.

Robbins is a leader in several national professional organizations. A consultant for the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) professional development network, she has served on multiple committees and commissions for NCTE and led the secondary schools outreach committee of the American Studies Association. Currently, she is executive coordinator for the Modern Language Association's section on American literature; earlier, she was chair of the MLA's division on late 19th- and early 20th-century American literature. Robbins has also been a member of the National Writing Projectís leadership task force, a consultant for NWP sites around the country, a member of the editorial team for NWP@WORK (a publications series on teachers' professional development), and a leader of the NWP's inservice support network.

At KSU, Robbins' professional service has recently focused on the collaborative development of interdisciplinary programs in American studies and gender and women's studies. Earlier on, she helped establish Kennesaw Stateís English education programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Robbins' work in collaborative humanities teaching earned her one of the Georgia Humanities Council's Governor's awards in 2006.

Robbins attended Agnes Scott College before transferring to University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, where she earned a B.A. and an M.A. in English, with a support concentration in Italian. After working in K-12 and community college teaching for more than 10 years, Robbins completed an interdisciplinary doctoral program at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where she was a Regents and Center for the Education of Women Scholar and won several competitive research awards.

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Lynda K. Johnson
Executive Assistant to the President

In her capacity as executive assistant to the president, Lynda K. Johnson brings 27 years of experience in higher education. The past 23 have been with the Office of the President at Kennesaw State University. Before coming to Kennesaw State, Johnson spent eight years in corporate administration, five of which were with Fuqua Industries Inc. in Atlanta and the balance with Bahco Systems Inc., the U.S. corporate office of a Swedish-owned manufacturing company. She attended college at the University of Texas in Austin, Southern Polytechnic State University and KSU. Residing in east Cobb County with her husband, Skip, she is the mother of four grown children and grandmother of five.

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