Page 14 - 2025 Penn LPS Graduation Program

Guest Speaker
Cecil W. Johnson, III, PhD
Visiting Scholar, Penn Organizational Dynamics Program and member of the Penn LPS
Employer Advisory Board
Dr. Cecil W. Johnson III is a global workforce dynamics researcher and strategist.
He also serves as Global Head of Inclusive Business Strategy—Innovative
Medicine at Johnson & Johnson, where he has served as a leader in sales,
management, learning, talent development, and global talent management.
At Penn, Dr. Johnson is currently a visiting scholar in the Organizational
Dynamics Programs and also serves as a member of the Penn LPS Employer
Advisory Board.
Dr. Johnson has led high-performing teams and critical initiatives at Johnson
& Johnson to create innovative, business-relevant talent and organizational
development strategies advancing culture, capability, and business impact.
While in Global Talent Management, a significant part of his experience was
global executive development preparing talent to thrive in C-suite roles. He
expanded the organization’s talent innovation capability and external value
proposition by partnering top talent with external healthcare start-up CEOs to
solve business model and organizational capability challenges. He further evolved
the platform to include health center executives and global social enterprises on
the front lines of delivering critical healthcare to communities.
Dr. Johnson is a proud alum of Hampton University where he earned a
Bachelor of Science in Business Management. He holds a Master of Science in
Organizational Dynamics from Penn’s College of Liberal and Professional Studies,
where his graduate work led him to develop a new organizational metaphor:
The Organization as a Romantic Partner. He went on to complete a PhD in
Global Leadership and Change at Pepperdine University, where he focused
on global workforce dynamics and the organizational performance implications
across countries.
A Philadelphia native who began his healthcare career sweeping floors in his
father’s pharmacy at an early age, Dr. Johnson is a lifelong advocate for education.
He serves on the Board of Managers of the Associated Alumni of the Central High
School of Philadelphia, the second-oldest public high school in the United States;
he also chairs the Scholarship and Prizes Committee that distributes over $150k
annually to Central High graduates. Dr. Johnson is the author of What to Pack? 21
Essential Stories to Take on Your College Journey; a percentage of the book’s profits
contribute to scholarships awarded by the Athena Educational Foundation, a
501c3 foundation founded by Dr. Johnson and his wife Shawna.
U N I V E R S I T Y O F P E N N S Y L V A N I A