Dr. Johnette McKown has lived by a personal philosophy of hard work and helping others, and it’s taken her far in life: She’s been named the next president of McLennan Community College and will take the helm on Sept. 1.

McKown’s work ethic and goodwill stems from her childhood, which she spent in small-town Farmerville, La. She looked to her parents as role models—especially her mother, who never ran from any task, she said.

"Education is a mission for me; it's the key to opportunity," says Dr. Johnette McKown.

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“If she saw a need, she filled it,” said McKown, who recalls her mother stepping in to lead Girl Scouts, coach basketball teams and teach vacation Bible school when no one else would—all while working as a school teacher.

Following her mother’s example, McKown was compelled to help others, even as a child. Her small town often hosted special events for children, such as magicians, but there was always a fee to attend. McKown said she would always ask her mom for extra money to go to these events, so she could pay for other kids who couldn’t afford to attend.

“I never thought it was fair that they didn’t have an equal opportunity to go.”

Even today, McKown is happiest when helping other people—which she does often through volunteer work with several community organizations and her church, First Baptist Church Woodway.

“I think it’s important for folks to know other people care about them,” she said.

Throughout her career, McKown has cared about students and has searched for ways to help them succeed. She started out as a high school teacher in Little Elm, Texas, near Denton. She and her husband, Dr. Stan McKown, moved to Denton from Louisiana so he could pursue his master’s degree at the University of North Texas.

McKown moved into the world of higher education when she took a position at UNT as the registrar’s secretary. She held various secretarial positions at the community colleges in Vernon and Paris, which is where she met Dr. Dennis Michaelis, MCC’s current president.

While at Paris Junior College, McKown took on many roles. She started the institutional research office while also serving as the school’s registrar, grant writer and human resources professional.

“I’ve often done things that I knew nothing about,” McKown admits. But—like her mother—that didn’t stop her from jumping right in and learning everything she could to get the job done.

“I’ve always believed that you should do more than is expected of you without expecting anything in return,” she said.

Her hard work at Paris did not go unnoticed. Michaelis asked McKown to run the business office, despite the fact that she had no business training. But McKown took on the challenge and did such an outstanding job that Michaelis asked her to come to MCC with him in 1989. Today she serves as executive vice president and said she’s honored to be selected as the next leader of the college.

“I’m committed to this place,” she said. “I see the potential and the challenges for the future. But even with the challenges, I take a positive viewpoint: What can we do to make it better?”

When she’s talking about the future of MCC, it’s easy to see that McKown will combine her enthusiasm for helping others and her capacity for hard work to accomplish her goals for the school. And those goals all have an underlying purpose: to increase opportunities for student success.

“Education is a mission for me; it’s the key to opportunity.”

For many, that key is MCC, she added. McKown wants to be sure that community members know that—despite the family, work and financial obligations that they may have—MCC can help them get a quality education. McKown has even helped individual students personally to make sure they attend school or don’t drop out.

“I’m always looking for ways to meet students I can help,” she said

McKown has met potential students through her community service work and helped them get financial or personal support. She has met students through the MCC Foundation and personally helped finance their education. She has met students in the classroom and helped them get something as simple as a bus pass in order to have transportation to class.

“I think ‘We can’t help everyone’ is a cop-out,” McKown said. “We can do what we can one student at a time. We can’t always help everyone, but we can try.”