PROVIDENCE – Joseph J. Greene Jr. is a Johnson & Wales University lifer, with a resume proving that.
Born and raised in the city, Greene earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at JWU as a first-generation college student in his family and had two children graduate from the university. Professionally, Greene said he has spent more than four decades on and off working at JWU, including the last 32 consecutive years there.
Now, he will oversee all operations of his alma mater’s Providence campus as Greene will succeed the retiring Marie Bernardo-Sousa as JWU's new campus president. Bernardo-Sousa, also long associated with JWU both as a student and as a professional since 1988 – the last six years as campus president – is
leaving her current post in August.
Greene had been JWU’s vice chancellor of finance and administration, working on “all current plans” for the university, he told Providence Business News, before being named new campus president. Recently, he had a hand in overseeing and creating the “
JWU Pledge,” where eligible students entering the university this fall can either have most or all of their tuition covered, and JWU’s
three-year, in-person bachelor’s degree program, the first of its kind in the U.S. Both programs are set to launch this fall.
Greene also serves on the New England Commission of Higher Education as a commissioner. He said he hears across the board various struggles other colleges and universities are facing, and feels he’s in a “unique position” to bring JWU to the next level.
“What has helped Johnson & Wales be successful is our focus on career education and, for the last 15 years, really focusing on student affordability issues,” Greene said. “To me, that’s the success of Johnson & Wales. We’re not education for the sake of education. We’re educating students to help change their lives. That’s’ where I get excited about what our future is and we’re going to continue to focus on that.”
Greene also said JWU, in staying ahead of the projected “demographic cliff” other institutions are fearing will impact enrollments, is focusing more on “right-size enrollments” at the university. That means, he says, JWU isn’t expecting to grow in enrollment size and the university is looking at what is the best enrollment size it can operate with.
Greene said JWU has “dramatically reduced” its operating activities the last five years. Back in 2021, JWU
closed campuses in Miami and Denver as an effort for it to become a “more comprehensive university.” Once JWU started focusing more on online course delivery, the need for brick-and-mortar locations to educate students decreased, he said, describing that as a “huge change” to JWU’s operating model.
More recently, JWU announced it would
lay off 91 total employees – 69 of them locally – to reorganize key departments and programs, as well as align the university’s operational size with the reality of its current student population and budget.
He feels JWU is now at a “stable point” with those operations. Plus, JWU, he says, has seen increased new student enrollment at the university the last two years. He says JWU will have between 50 to 60 more students attending the university for the first time this fall than expected.
“We seem to be doing all the right things and we’re getting the attention of parents and students, alike,” Greene said.
JWU has also for the last decade sharpened its focus on offering health and wellness academically to increase its course offerings for students along with the school’s trademark food and hospitality programming, Greene said. The school will launch this fall a physical therapy program and had launched various nursing programs over the last few years.
“The approach we’re taking is there’s a strong connection between people’s health and food,” Greene said. “We’ve also had nutritional programs and we’re trying to build that influence as to why come to Johnson & Wales for a health and wellness degree. It’s not just medication that helps people live healthy lives. There’s a connection there with our hospitality programs.”
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on X at @James_Bessette.
