Dr. Kelli Johnson (she, her, hers)

Dr. Kelli Johnson is an associate university librarian for Marshall University Libraries. Dr. Johnson’s research interests include diversity in academic libraries and in higher education.  Her dissertation, “Minority Librarians in Higher Education: A Critical Race Theory Analysis,” was named one of 10 Notable Dissertations of 2016 by the American Library Association.  She received a National Park Service grant and is currently collecting oral histories in the Fairfield Neighborhood of Huntington. She was named the 2022-2023 Sarah Denman Faces of Appalachia Fellow and is working with a community group to create a documentary of the Underground Railroad in the tri-state area. Dr. Johnson co-founded the President’s Commission on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion with Dr. Tim Melvin in 2017. She serves on the board of directors for the Fairfield Development Corporation, the West Virginia Humanities Council, Coalfield Development and the Huntington Human Relations Commission and is a member of the Mayor Steve William’s Diversity Advisory Committee.