In Her Wake: Johnston Committed to Culture at Wake Forest
2/10/2024 10:06:00 AM | Men's Basketball
As Wake Forest players enter the team lounge in the new The Chris Paul Family Men's Basketball Clubhouse a plaque reads "Given in memory of Larry Johnston by Ann, Riley and Bart Johnston."
Ann graduated from Wake Forest Business School in 1981 and Larry, who passed away in 2018, was a Wake Forest Law School graduate. Both their sons, Riley and Bart, finished their undergrad work at Wake Forest. Being a part of the $7.2 million Chris Paul Family Clubhouse project was a way to show their commitment to Wake Forest Basketball and their love for their late husband and father.
"I've obviously been involved with Wake Forest ever since I graduated from the business school," Ann said. "I've lived in Winston-Salem for a long time and have predominantly supported both the business school as well as athletics. My husband was really behind supporting athletics.
"Over the last 5-10 years, I've really tried to bridge my interest between the business school and the athletic department. At the beginning of the development of the Leadership and Character Center, Larry and I got really interested. We knew that their long-term goal was to involve student-athletes in that endeavor, so we gave some seed money for that. We felt that would take care of both our interests and bridge the academic and athletic sides of Wake Forest together."
Having worked together with Cathy Pace, President & Chief Executive Officer at Allegacy Federal Credit Union, Johnston is excited about the path ahead with the Allegacy Center for Leadership and Character.
"It's a great collaboration," she said. "It's a win-win for everybody. I've stayed very involved in that center, and serve on the Allegacy board. That's been another way I've been able to participate.
"I'm extremely excited about the sponsorship of the stadium. That's just the icing on the cake."
Johnston has recently agreed to serve as vice-chair on the Wake Forest Business School board of visitors.
"Both of those areas are vitally important to me, and that's where I like to invest my resources — both time and money," she explained. "The center is doing such a great job with athletes, and Allegacy is only going to help that continue. They have big plans to work with the athletic department to help develop the holistic approach in student-athletes."
Its clear Wake Forest is committed to winning at the highest levels of collegiate athletics. Under coach Dave Clawson, the football program has competed in a program-record seven-straight bowl games. Wake Forest baseball just competed in the College World Series in Omaha and the women's golf team just claimed a national championship. But while Demon Deacons are competing on the field for ACC titles and NCAA Championships, Wake Forest is staying true to the student-athlete model, focusing on succeeding in the classroom and in life beyond the field of play.
"That endears me to the entire spirit of Wake Forest," Johnston said. "Wake Forest continues to be true to its core mission. Developing that culture is what has probably brought a lot of the success we've seen on the field. The character and leadership development has been exceptional.
"They are still student-athletes at Wake Forest, and they are here to go to school, but they're also here to build a great program. We can do both at the same time. We just have to stay focused, and we do expect a lot. It's one of the things that makes me so happy about being involved in Wake Forest Athletics."
Success on the field isn't coming in spite of those commitments, but because of those values, according to Johnston.
"Developing the culture in any organization is the most important thing you can do, and everybody has to buy in," she said. "It has to go through the ranks. Wake Forest has intentionally been doing that for years, and the success we're seeing is the result of that. Building that culture is the basis for all of that."
Her career in human resources management has led Johnston to a trio of the most prolific employers in Winston-Salem, and Wake Forest has continued to be an excellent resource for her to tap into at every stop along the way.
"Being in human resources, having a school like Wake Forest locally made for an excellent spot to recruit," she said. "I started my career at Hanes, then went to Wachovia, then RJ Reynolds. Because I was with large corporations locally and Wake Forest was right in their backyard, that probably helped lead to a close connection, because we recruited there, and I was trying to bring Wake Forest students into the workforce. But as the years go by, you hope to grow wiser and move into leadership positions — both the Wake Forest Business School and I kind of grew up together.
"I began to see, over the course of time, that Wake Forest was doing something right, and that those coming out of the business school here were very well-rounded and had developed good leadership skills and work ethic."
Ann graduated from Wake Forest Business School in 1981 and Larry, who passed away in 2018, was a Wake Forest Law School graduate. Both their sons, Riley and Bart, finished their undergrad work at Wake Forest. Being a part of the $7.2 million Chris Paul Family Clubhouse project was a way to show their commitment to Wake Forest Basketball and their love for their late husband and father.
"I've obviously been involved with Wake Forest ever since I graduated from the business school," Ann said. "I've lived in Winston-Salem for a long time and have predominantly supported both the business school as well as athletics. My husband was really behind supporting athletics.
"Over the last 5-10 years, I've really tried to bridge my interest between the business school and the athletic department. At the beginning of the development of the Leadership and Character Center, Larry and I got really interested. We knew that their long-term goal was to involve student-athletes in that endeavor, so we gave some seed money for that. We felt that would take care of both our interests and bridge the academic and athletic sides of Wake Forest together."
Having worked together with Cathy Pace, President & Chief Executive Officer at Allegacy Federal Credit Union, Johnston is excited about the path ahead with the Allegacy Center for Leadership and Character.
"It's a great collaboration," she said. "It's a win-win for everybody. I've stayed very involved in that center, and serve on the Allegacy board. That's been another way I've been able to participate.
"I'm extremely excited about the sponsorship of the stadium. That's just the icing on the cake."
Johnston has recently agreed to serve as vice-chair on the Wake Forest Business School board of visitors.
"Both of those areas are vitally important to me, and that's where I like to invest my resources — both time and money," she explained. "The center is doing such a great job with athletes, and Allegacy is only going to help that continue. They have big plans to work with the athletic department to help develop the holistic approach in student-athletes."
Its clear Wake Forest is committed to winning at the highest levels of collegiate athletics. Under coach Dave Clawson, the football program has competed in a program-record seven-straight bowl games. Wake Forest baseball just competed in the College World Series in Omaha and the women's golf team just claimed a national championship. But while Demon Deacons are competing on the field for ACC titles and NCAA Championships, Wake Forest is staying true to the student-athlete model, focusing on succeeding in the classroom and in life beyond the field of play.
"That endears me to the entire spirit of Wake Forest," Johnston said. "Wake Forest continues to be true to its core mission. Developing that culture is what has probably brought a lot of the success we've seen on the field. The character and leadership development has been exceptional.
"They are still student-athletes at Wake Forest, and they are here to go to school, but they're also here to build a great program. We can do both at the same time. We just have to stay focused, and we do expect a lot. It's one of the things that makes me so happy about being involved in Wake Forest Athletics."
Success on the field isn't coming in spite of those commitments, but because of those values, according to Johnston.
"Developing the culture in any organization is the most important thing you can do, and everybody has to buy in," she said. "It has to go through the ranks. Wake Forest has intentionally been doing that for years, and the success we're seeing is the result of that. Building that culture is the basis for all of that."
Her career in human resources management has led Johnston to a trio of the most prolific employers in Winston-Salem, and Wake Forest has continued to be an excellent resource for her to tap into at every stop along the way.
"Being in human resources, having a school like Wake Forest locally made for an excellent spot to recruit," she said. "I started my career at Hanes, then went to Wachovia, then RJ Reynolds. Because I was with large corporations locally and Wake Forest was right in their backyard, that probably helped lead to a close connection, because we recruited there, and I was trying to bring Wake Forest students into the workforce. But as the years go by, you hope to grow wiser and move into leadership positions — both the Wake Forest Business School and I kind of grew up together.
"I began to see, over the course of time, that Wake Forest was doing something right, and that those coming out of the business school here were very well-rounded and had developed good leadership skills and work ethic."
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