Felician has named former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson as the recipient of its 2020 Martin Luther King Jr. Legacy Award.

Johnson will accept the award on Felician’s Rutherford Campus in the Education Commons building on January 28th, at 4:00 pm.

“We are thrilled to name Jeh Johnson as this year’s recipient of our MLK Legacy Award,” said Felician University President, Dr. Anne Prisco. “As a lawyer and public servant, Johnson dedicated his life to issues of justice as seen through a lens of doing good.”

The MLK Jr. Legacy Award was created by Felician University to honor Dr. King by recognizing individuals who strive to fulfill Dr. King’s dream of equality and justice.

Felician identified Johnson as an individual whose life’s work reflects and promotes the University’s Franciscan core values—especially passion for issues related to social justice, civil rights and economic equality, compassion, justice and peace, and finding goodness in all God’s creation.

Johnson served as United States Secretary of Homeland Security from 2013 to 2017, A lawyer from Montclair, Johnson also served as General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Defense from 2009 to 2012. Currently, he is a partner at the law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton, & Garrison LLP and a Board of Directors member at Lockheed Martin.

About Felician University

Felician University engages over 2,300 undergraduate, graduate, and adult students through programs in Arts & Sciences, Business, Nursing, and Education. Universal Franciscan values of social justice, compassion, and respect for human dignity serve as an inclusive foundation for transforming the lives of tomorrow’s leaders. Felician University’s education is ranked 3rd best return on investment for private colleges in New Jersey 2018 by the PayScale.com College ROI Report and is ranked #1 safest college campus in the state by niche.com.