Dr. Joseph Johnson is the Founding Executive Director of the National Center for Urban School Transformation (NCUST) at San Diego State University. NCUST identifies, studies, and promotes the best practices of high-performing urban schools and districts throughout the nation. Specifically, NCUST identifies schools that achieve outstanding academic results for every demographic group they serve. They award and study those schools and then help other schools pursue courses of action that lead to similar equitable and excellent results.

While serving at NCUST, Dr. Johnson served as a Professor of Educational Leadership at SDSU, then as the Dean of the College of Education, and finally as the University’s Provost and Senior Vice President. In July of 2019, he retired from university administration to focus exclusively on NCUST.

Prior to coming to SDSU in 2005, he served as a teacher in Southeast San Diego, as a school and district administrator in New Mexico, as a state department official in both Texas and Ohio, as a researcher at the University of Texas, and as a Senior Executive Service Director at the US Department of Education where he led the Title I Program.

He earned a Ph.D. in educational administration from the University of Texas, a master’s degree at San Diego State University, and a Bachelor of Science Degree (Magna Cum Laude) from the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh.

Early in his career, he received the New Mexico Council for Exceptional Children’s Educator of the Year Award. Later, he was chosen as the Texas Educator of Year by the Association of Compensatory Educators. More recently, the College Board granted him the Dr. Asa Hilliard Model of Excellence Award.

He has published multiple articles, book chapters, reports, and books including Teaching Practices from America’s Best Urban Schools and Leadership in America’s Best Urban Schools. Both books were co-authored with his wife, Dr. Cynthia Uline and their colleague, Dr. Lynne Perez.