Several accomplishments led to Johnny Nhan, associate dean of graduate studies and professor of criminal justice, being named a winner of the 2020 Michael R. Ferrari Award for Distinguished University Service and Leadership.
His impact stretches well beyond his TCU classroom. He worked with the Fort Worth police chief to launch a nonprofit to provide mentorship and scholarship opportunities to local underserved youth. He established the TCU Leadership, Executive and Administrative Development certificate program for law enforcement supervisors in DFW. And he launched TCU’s online graduate criminal justice program, which is currently ranked sixth in the nation.
“This ranking is attributed to Johnny’s leadership of the program — his diligence, tenacity and hard work,” said Chancellor Victor J. Boschini, Jr. when announcing Nhan as a Ferrari Award winner.
This award was established by the TCU Board of Trustees to honor the former chancellor and recognize the extraordinary situational leadership accomplishments above job or position expectations of a faculty or staff member.
“Johnny co-created the nonprofit Operation Progress with the current chief of Fort Worth Police Department,” wrote one of Nhan’s nominators. “This nonprofit empowers underserved youth to become educated, ethical and productive adults. TCU has partnered with this nonprofit to provide scholarships to some of these youth.”
In addition, the nominator noted, Nhan’s LEAD certificate program offers leadership training to rising North Texas law enforcement officials. In fact, several LEAD alumni have been promoted to police chief.
“To me, it’s important to reach out to the community and make sure that our research is not just in some journal or some book that’s filed away at some library but really make an impact in the community and make an impact in people’s lives,” Nhan said.