IRSC Alum Malcolm Johns Receives 2019 LeRoy Collins Distinguished Alumni Award from Association of Florida Colleges

November 8, 2019 Robert Lane

Indian River State College (IRSC) alumnus Captain Malcolm Johns was recognized with the LeRoy Collins Distinguished Alumni Lifetime Achievement Award at the Association of Florida Colleges Annual Conference held in Palm Harbor, Florida, November 6 through 8. The award was conferred to CAPT Johns at the conference’s awards banquet on Thursday evening. The award is presented to the Florida college alumnus who has reached state, regional, or national recognition that represents the highest level of achievement in his or her field.

Captain Malcom Johns “Captain Malcolm Johns truly embodies the spirit of the LeRoy Collins Distinguished Alumni Lifetime Achievement Award,” shares Dr. Edwin Massey, IRSC President. “His story of perseverance and commitment is inspiring, and his professional accomplishments and service to our country—and to the world—is of the highest order.”

CAPT Johns, Officer of the Commissioned Corps of the United States Public Health Service (USPHS), has been on active duty in the service of the Unites States for more than 27 years. He currently serves as the Director of BioWatch Quality Assurance with the United States Department of Homeland Security. He attended Indian River Community College (now IRSC) from 1976 to 1978.

At the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Capt. Johns served as the Office of Emergency Preparedness’ Metropolitan Medical Response System Program Manager and served as HHS liaison to both the Federal Emergency Management Agency for several hurricane response missions and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in response to the September 11 terrorist attacks. Detailed to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) since 2003, CAPT Johns has served in various roles, currently as the Director of Quality Assurance on a national counter biological terrorism program in the DHS Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office.

Prior to joining the USPHS, CAPT Johns served as a commissioned officer in the United States Navy and was assigned to the British Chemical and Biological Defense Establishment in Porton Down, United Kingdom and the Naval Medical Research Institute Biological Defense Research Program in Maryland. During these assignments, CAPT Johns worked on rapid detection capabilities for biological warfare agents. CAPT Johns was also deployed with the FBI in support of the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, and was part of the team that analyzed fragments from the bombing incident. His final tour of duty in the U.S. Navy was on detail to the Central Intelligence Agency.

CAPT Johns received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology from Florida Atlantic University, and a Master of Science in Microbiology from the University Of Pittsburgh School Of Medicine. He lives in Maryland with Christy, his wife of 35 years.

About the LeRoy Collins Award

The 28 colleges of the Florida College System (FCS) provide a bridge of opportunity for more than 21 million residents of the state to fully develop their individual talents and abilities, and alumni of the FCS impact lives daily and enrich the world around them. In 1990, the Florida Association of Community Colleges and the State Board of Community Colleges developed the Distinguished Community College Alumni Awards to recognize the many significant contributions of Florida’s community colleges and their graduates. The award is named after Governor LeRoy Collins to acknowledge his contributions to Florida’s community colleges.