Dr. Johnson O. Akinleye, chancellor of North Carolina Central University (NCCU) has announced he is retiring at the end of the academic year. Akinleye, who holds a bachelor’s degree in telecommunications and a master’s degree in media technology from Alabama A&M University; and a doctorate in human communications from Howard University, was appointed the twelfth chancellor of North Carolina Central in June 2017.
Under Akinleye’s leadership, NCCU achieved record growth in enrollment (5.5% growth in 2023); fundraising ($16.4 million generated in 2023); research funding ($227 million generated from 2017-2023), and athletics, including the 2022 HBCU National Football Championship.
“I am deeply grateful to have had the opportunity to lead this esteemed university through a period of growth and innovation, a period when the institution was primed for transformative change,” Akinleye said in a statement to the campus community.
Akinleye joined NCCU as provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs in February 2014. He assumed the role of acting chancellor in August 2016 and interim chancellor in December 2016, before his appointment as chancellor.
Prior to NCCU, Akinleye had been associate vice chancellor for academic programs at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Earlier in his career, he was vice president for administration and chief operating officer at what is now Edward Waters University in Jacksonville, Florida. He has also held posts at Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Florida, and Bowie State University in Maryland.
