This story and video highlight James H. Johnson Jr.’s role in the new Union Independent School that opened in Durham last month.

"We want to create an environment where the kids in this community have a safe haven to attend school and to engage in a range of other kinds of social, economic and cultural activities that will broaden their horizons," said Johnson, William R. Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at Kenan-Flagler Business School. Johnson, a member of Union Baptist, reviewed research on education and underprivileged youth to design an operating model for the school.