Januwoina Nixon, Ph.D
Januwoina (pronounced ja-von-na) Nixon, PhD, is a lifetime educator with over 35 years of experience as a classroom teacher and an instructional leader. She began her career working as a kindergarten teacher in Boston, MA. Due to frequent moves related to her husband’s career as a minister, Januwoina was able to teach in elementary schools twice in Massachusetts, New York, California, and Maryland before taking a position as a reading specialist at Oakwood University in Huntsville, AL.
It was at Oakwood that Januwoina found another use for the skills she honed in her many years in elementary school classrooms. Realizing that many of her college students were experiencing failure due to functional illiteracy, Januwoina began developing instructional techniques that would reinforce the same skills in her college students that she had been teaching to her elementary school students.
From there, it was a small but logical step to running Learning Support Services at Southern Adventist University in Collegedale, TN, which Januwoina did for 10 years.
After a brief stint as the Director for Family Ministries for the South Central Conference, Januwoina accepted a position as Associate Superintendent and Instructional Coach for the same organization. In both of these positions, she put her PhD in Post-Secondary and Adult Education to good use. Januwoina believes that education is dynamic and ongoing, and as important as traditional classroom instruction is, it is just one component of a lifelong process. Januwoina holds numerous certifications, including a Professional Educator Certificate in Alabama, an Advanced Professional Certificate in Maryland, and a Professional Teaching Certificate in Massachusetts. She is also a certified marital counselor.
Januwoina has been happily married to Dr. John Nixon for over 45 years. Together, they have three adult children: John II (wife April, son John III, daughter Julia), Paul (wife Taïna), and Clarise. Januwoina is excited to join the Virtual VP team, which is led by her second son Paul.