Passion for All Things Computer Takes Fowler Alum to Leadership Role at HBCU
Like many other youngsters growing up in the 1970s and early 1980s, John Wilson thrived on playing video games like Pong, Breakout and Space Invaders. The games sparked his “interest in all things computer” and, while still in high school, he was determined to pursue a career in technology. “My parents made it clear early and often that if I wanted to pursue a career in computers, college was the only way to get there,” said Wilson, a native of the Harvard Park neighborhood in South-Central Los Angeles. “I’m not sure it was true at that time, but it worked, and I desperately wanted to go to college.”
John Wilson ('90, MIS) currently serves as the chief information officer and vice president of technology services at Spelman College
Q: Who or what inspires you and why?
A: “I gain inspiration from many sources including family, friends, my wife, my ancestors and my community. That said, I had one of the most inspirational experiences of my life shortly after I arrived at Spelman College. I was invited to a reception for a group of scholars known as the Pauline E. Drake or PEDs Scholars of Spelman College. These mature learners are given an opportunity to begin or continue their education after their college experience has been interrupted or delayed for any number of reasons. The stories these women shared were simply amazing. Some had overcome health issues, while others overcame financial constraints, yet others sought a place of acceptance and encouragement that they felt they could not get anywhere else. There stories were told by women in the 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s with seriousness, humor, insight, and wisdom beyond their years in many cases. I left that event truly inspired by their courage and their ability to overcome.”
John Wilson (’90, MIS), chief information officer and vice president of technology services at Spelman College
When it came time to select which university to attend, Wilson made San Diego State University his college of choice based, he said, on SDSU’s good reputation, its location and its “beautiful setting.” “I can laugh about it now, but at the time one of my high school counselors told me I might want to consider ‘other options’ because SDSU was a really good school and the chances of me getting in would be ‘slim’,” he said. “I took that as a challenge and applied in spite of the counselor’s admonition.”
Once he was admitted to SDSU, Wilson then had the challenge of determining a major course of study. After requesting, and receiving, a course catalog through the mail, he chose to pursue an information systems degree, but not before a significant amount of deliberation. “I was interested in programming, but I was also intrigued by business and using technology to address business problems,” said Wilson. “I wanted to somehow marry the two disciplines if I could, but I had no idea if that was possible. SDSU offered an information systems degree through the business school which perfectly matched my interests.”
Making the Right Choices
Once he started taking courses at SDSU’s Fowler College of Business, Wilson realized he’d made the right choice almost immediately. “The information technology industry was in its infancy compared to what it is today and I was excited to be on the leading edge of it. I enjoyed the specificity and the logic computers required to do their work,” he said. “The point was driven home when a professor in one of my first computer classes said ‘computers only do what you tell them to do.’ When I heard that, the light bulb lit up for me and I realized that making computers do what I wanted was exactly what I wanted as my career.”
Wilson also pledged the SDSU chapter of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity and served as the president of the Pan-Hellenic Council, which is an 8-member organization from historically African American fraternities and sororities that plans events and community service activities for the member organizations. Wilson noted that being a member of the council and the fraternity allowed him to establish “some of the most important and long-lasting friendships” of his life and provided him with life lessons that he still uses today.
Taking His Shot at Polaroid
After Wilson earned his degree in MIS in 1990, he took a job at Polaroid Corporation where he worked in Los Angeles until he was promoted to a management position and required to move to Boston in 1995. Since he aspired to move into upper management within the company, Wilson earned his Executive MBA at Northeastern University (also located in Boston) in 1996 which provided him the opportunity to travel and study in Europe as part of his capstone experience.
In 1997, a year before he earned his EMBA degree, Wilson and his family were still living in Boston when they were hit with the notorious April Fool’s Day Blizzard which dumped over two feet of snow on the city. To Los Angeles-native Wilson and his wife — who was a native of Florida — the harsh New England winter whether proved to be too much and this blizzard was the turning point that prompted the couple to find a milder climate to raise their growing family. “My wife had family in Atlanta and, since we did not want to move back to Los Angeles, we agreed that Atlanta was a good place to establish roots and we’ve been here since 1998,” he said. “It also represented my transition from the private sector with Polaroid Corporation to my first job in higher education when I became a business analyst in the central IT department at Emory University.”
After 17 years and rising to the level of senior manager of information technology at Emory, Wilson took a position as an IT director at Georgia Tech where he stayed for over three years until he learned of an opening for the chief information officer and vice president of technology services at Spelman College. Wilson was already familiar with Spelman which is one of the over 100 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) in the U.S.
Contributing To The Mission of Spelman College
Due to several major projects he was involved with at Georgia Tech, Wilson was at first reluctant to pursue the opening. However, since his wife was an alumna of the college and because of his own research about the history and mission of Spelman, his interest in the position increased. “The mission of Spelman College is to prepare Black women to go out into the world and do great things. My wife was a living example of what that training really meant,” said Wilson. “By the time the interview process started, I was more than convinced that the role would be an excellent fit for my skillset. I also felt that I had a lot to contribute to the mission of Spelman College.”
In August 2019, Wilson accepted the position of chief information officer and vice president of technology services at Spelman College. He calls it “the best move I could have made.” “What makes Spelman great is the dedicated faculty, students and administrators, as well as the laser beam focus everyone has on the mission: Preparing Black women to change the world,” he said. “The mission remains in sharp focus every day, and as the father of three daughters, I get it and I am very proud to be a part of it.”
Wilson noted that many of the skills he used and learned as a student at SDSU have served him well in his role at Spelman College. “My primary role is that of a leader and my first taste of leadership was as the Pan-Hellenic Council president while at SDSU,” he said. “I represented the council’s needs and concerns to the university’s administration and learned how to seek common ground among disparate viewpoints while remaining loyal to my organization and its beliefs. It was a delicate balance at times, but the skills I learned during that experience remain with me today. I would not have traded that experience for anything.”
