Office Hours with John Gardner
We are searching for big ideas that inspire hope and action in higher education around institutional transformation and innovation to advance student success outcomes. Joining John Gardner are higher education leaders and other relevant persons of interest who will discuss innovation and strategies that improve higher education.
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Office Hours with John Gardner
Episode 174- Mission-Driven Leadership with Michael B. McGinnis
Michael McGinnis was appointed Vice President for Academic Affairs at Saint Francis University in July 2022. Dr. McGinnis has 29 years’ experience in higher education and currently in the 2025-2026 cohort of the Executive Leadership Academy sponsored by the Council of Independent Colleges. Dr. McGinnis came to Saint Francis from Norwich University, a senior military college, where he served as Dean of the College of Science and Mathematics and professor of chemistry since 2013. Prior to Norwich, he served as head of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at University of North Georgia (a sister senior military college) and the Associate Dean and Director of Preprofessional Programs at Georgia College, Georgia’s Public Liberal Arts College. VPAA McGinnis earned his ACS-certified B.S. degree in chemistry from Elizabethtown College (PA) and Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of Tennessee. He completed a one-year teaching-research Postdoctoral Fellowship with the University of Tennessee; also working at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He has won awards for his undergraduate teaching and advising, participated in science outreach activities and workshops around the globe, and served at the local, regional and national level for the American Chemical Society (ACS). He is currently national chair for ACS’ International Activities Committee. McGinnis’s research, much of it involving undergraduates, presently focuses on microwave-assisted organic reactions. He is an accomplished scientist with published articles and a book.
