North Carolina Central University will hold its 63rd Annual Honors Convocation on Friday, March 30, in the McDougald – McLendon Gymnasium at 10:15 a.m. The keynote speaker will be Dr. James (Jim) H. Johnson, William Rand Kenan Jr. distinguished professor of Entrepreneurship and Strategy at UNC–Chapel Hill and an NCCU alumnus.

Johnson is director of the Urban Investment Strategies Center, Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise at the UNC–CH.  He was named one of the “brightest thinkers and doers in the new world of work” by Fast Company magazine. His research and consulting activities focus on creating competitive and sustainable business enterprises and communities in the current era of economic uncertainty and global insecurity.

His research has been published in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Detroit Free Press, Newsweek, Time Magazine, U.S. News & World Report and Business Week. He has also appeared on a number of national television shows, including The Today Show on NBC, CNN Headline News, the CBS Evening News, ABC Nightly News, Sunday Morning on CBS, This Week in Review on NBC and North Carolina People with William Friday.

Before joining the faculty at UNC-Chapel Hill Johnson spent 12 years as a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. He holds a bachelor’s degree in geography from NCCU, a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and a doctorate from Michigan State University.

The Honors Convocation celebrates academic excellence by NCCU students. Honor recipients are recognized in the following categories: Chancellor’s Award for Academic Excellence, University Award for Academic Excellence, departmental academic honors, performing arts distinctions, community service, and membership in professional and academic honor societies. Students receive a lapel pin that distinguishes them as honor students and is worn during convocation week. A reception will follow the program in the A.E. Student Union.