Howard University is pleased to announce the appointment of Johnnie Watson III as its new treasurer. 

Watson began his appointment as Howard’s treasurer Aug. 24. Reporting to the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Watson will oversee the University’s treasury operations, fortify Howard’s financial position, and partner across leadership to advance the University’s strategic priorities. He brings more than two decades of distinguished experience in treasury management, capital markets, investments, and financial strategy across higher education, municipal government, insurance, and financial services. 

Most recently, Watson served as associate vice president and deputy treasurer at Johns Hopkins University. Before his tenure at Johns Hopkins, Watson served as treasurer for the City of Atlanta, where he managed working capital strategies and led more than $1 billion in municipal bond issuances. Earlier in his career, Watson held leadership roles with organizations that include AIG Life and Retirement Companies, Merrill Lynch, and USAA, developing deep expertise in liquidity management, financial risk analysis, and capital markets. Throughout his career, he has demonstrated a steadfast commitment to operational excellence, sound stewardship, and collaborative leadership. 

Watson is bringing this experience to Howard with a goal of strengthening the University’s financial operations and “building a treasury team that becomes a pipeline.”

“Disciplined financial management is how an institution keeps faith with the people who believe in it,” said Watson. “I want Howard’s financial operations to be as excellent and as credible as its academic reputation. My job is to make sure the balance sheet can carry the University’s ambitions. A stronger capital structure lowers borrowing costs, and every dollar not spent on interest is a dollar available for financial aid, faculty, laboratories, and facilities.”

Priorities as Howard’s New Treasurer

Watson holds a Master of Business Administration in Finance and Economics from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business; and a Bachelor of Science in Engineering Science and Mechanics from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

He shared that as Howard’s new treasurer he aims to strengthen the University’s financial infrastructure.

“Howard has been in the business of truth and service since 1867, and in 2025 it became the first and only HBCU to hold R1 status,” Watson said, pointing to the university’s Carnegie Classification as a Research One (R1) institution. 

“That is a remarkable achievement, and it raises the stakes for the financial side of the house. R1 research requires infrastructure, and infrastructure requires capital, liquidity, and the credit standing to access both on good terms,” he added. “Howard is also the nation's only federally chartered HBCU, and it carries expectations from alumni, donors, and the public that go well beyond what most institutions face.”

Watson said that his first priority as treasurer is to strengthen the fundamentals of how the University manages its finances. That includes “better forecasting, better tools, and more automation so leadership can see the full liquidity picture at any moment rather than at the end of a reporting cycle,” he explained. 

Watson also noted that he’s prioritizing the University’s financial organizational design and team development, in addition to its donor fund management.

“Gifts to Howard come with commitments attached, and honoring those commitments requires disciplined segregation of funds, accurate reporting, and stewardship donors can verify. Getting that right is both a fiduciary duty and a trust issue,” said Watson. 

Strengthening the University’s multi-year financial planning is another priority for Watson. He explained that higher education is currently in a period where the funding environment can change quickly.

“Howard deserves a treasury function that plans in years, not quarters,” Watson said. “That includes scenario and contingency planning so the University is prepared for a range of outcomes rather than reacting to any one of them.”

He continued: “Howard is also collaborating on efforts to expand access to capital for HBCUs more broadly. Institutions like ours have historically faced higher borrowing costs and thinner access to markets than peer institutions with similar credit profiles. Anything Howard can do to change that helps the whole sector.”