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Johnette Edwards McKown was named the third president of McLennan Community College in February 2009 and assumed the office of President on September 1. During her 28-year tenure at McLennan, McKown has provided leadership for the campus, first as Vice President of Business Services and then as Executive Vice President.

Her many accomplishments at McLennan include providing leadership in commitment to student scholarships, leading the sustainability movement on campus and nationally, bringing innovative financing to the campus to add more than $117 million in improvements and incorporating “access with success” initiatives.

For 10 years, she served as an adjunct instructor in the School of Education at Baylor University, where she taught Business and Finance in Higher Education in their Scholars of Practice doctoral program.

Active in the community, McKown serves on the board of the Waco Family Practice Foundation, the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce, KWBU Public Radio, Community Visioning Board, United Way, and is past board member for the Waco Business League. She volunteers with Gospel Cafe, Christian Women's Job Corp, and the Talitha Koum Institute. She has served as President of Waco Sunrise Rotary and the Heart of Texas Business Resource Center, and is a past board member of the Salvation Army.

McKown was recognized as a Bluebonnet Girl Scout Council Woman of Distinction, as a Pathfinder in a Non-Traditional Role by the Waco YWCA, and as the recipient of the Nelson Award for Community College Administrative Leadership from the Texas Association of Community Colleges. Additionally, she received the Distinguished Alumni Citation from Texas A&M University—Commerce.

She has been actively engaged in professional organizations, including Community College Business Officers and National Association of College and University Business Officers, and has served on numerous accreditation teams for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges where she serves on the Board of Trustees. She has served on the Presidential Advisory Committee for the Association of Community College Trustees and is the Chair of the Texas Association of Community Colleges. In Fall 2013, she was selected as one of 20 higher education administrators to participate in the Fulbright Seminar for U.S. Administrators in Germany.

McKown received an AA from Paris Junior College, a BA in English from Louisiana College, a M.Ed. in reading and community college education from Texas A&M University-Commerce, and an Ed.D. in Secondary and Higher Education in Curriculum and Instruction from Texas A&M University-Commerce.