Janet Daly Greenwood has been called a pioneer in higher education, with experiences ranging from being among the first female college presidents to forming her own executive search firm.
But to students in the Goldsboro High School Class of 1961, she remains a classmate. And she always makes an effort to attend whenever they gather.
Their recent reunion was held at Wilber’s Barbecue, and Greenwood traveled in from Florida for the occasion.
“My two best friends from high school are usually there, so I see them,” she said. “As much as I can, I come back.”
Whenever she visits, she also takes a literal trip down memory lane.
“The downtown, what I call Main Street, that’s really clever what they’ve done down there,” she observed.
Childhood memories may be in stark contrast to youth of today.
“It was church on Sunday, MYF (Methodist Youth Fellowship) at the Methodist Church, occasionally a Saturday matinee,” she said. “It was really a very busy period for me growing up.
“Back then, some of that time was before we got a TV, before they got a washing machine. It was a very full life.”
At Goldsboro High, she was in the band and Goldmasquers, recalling her days working with beloved drama teacher Clifton Britton.
“He always instilled excellence was a goal, so that was very important,” she said. “I can hear him yelling directions from the back of the auditorium as we speak.”
Her mother, Kae Daly, also modeled the work ethic she carries to this day.
“I had worked on a tobacco farm, actually, when I was about 11 years old and was putting tobacco in the barn,” she said. “I learned from that two things — No. 1, I was never gonna smoke, and No. 2, I was never gonna do a job where I got filthy every day. So that settled that.”
One of her first jobs was at Serottas in Goldsboro, a ladies’ dress shop, doing inventory and working her way up from sales and window design.
When she graduated high school in 1961, options for women were limited.
“That was when UNC-Chapel Hill did not admit women unless they were going into nursing,” she said. “So I went to Peace College, and then I transferred.
“By that time, I decided that I wanted a double major, and I could do that most quickly from East Carolina.”
She took additional courses during summers at UNC and N.C. State University. She then spent a few years teaching and as a guidance counselor. She even did a stint at her alma mater, GHS, in 1967-68 as a senior English teacher and class advisor.
“I thought I wanted to go into medicine, and I’m actually in some aspects of medicine right now in terms of being a psychologist,” she said. “When I was graduating, girls tended to be told they either needed to be secretaries, nurses, or teachers.
“Those were the three routes that were considered the routes that women went into and also, at that point, pretty much considering only in-state colleges, staying close to home. That was pretty much the culture at the time.”
Even with an advanced degree, though, Greenwood discovered a pay disparity.
“When I got to Raleigh as a guidance counselor, take-home pay with a master’s degree was about as low, maybe a little bit better than equal to welfare,” she said. “I worked another full-time job in merchandising there in Raleigh, so I basically had two full-time jobs.”
She decided to pursue her studies in education, toward her doctorate. She attended Florida State University and went to Rutgers University as a professor, then called a lecturer.
She also worked at Fayetteville State University while completing her Ph.D. and did post-doctoral work at Harvard and the University of London. Other opportunities included management and counseling positions at the University of Cincinnati, where she advanced to associate professor and then vice provost.
When contemplating positions after her doctorate, she met Chuck Perry, the youngest founding university president in the nation. He was around 26 years old and opening Florida International University.
“He became a mentor,” she said. “He offered me a job at FIU, but I thought a different route would be more advantageous in terms of becoming a president.”
She credits Perry and Warren Bennis, internationally renowned in leadership, with being instrumental in helping her career advancement.
In 1980, there were very few women in those top positions, and her situation was further complicated while going through the interview process at Longwood College, now university, in Virginia.
“When I went for my last interview at Longwood, a newspaper story quoted a person from the state level saying, ‘They may as well give this job to a woman because the university’s going to close anyway.’ ”
Greenwood chose to approach the challenge with an, “I’ll show you” attitude.
“Basically, I was given three years to turn it around or merge it or close it,” she says. “It was a phenomenal turnaround in less than two years. It was a wonderful opportunity.”
When she became Longwood’s first female president, in 1981, she was one of only 22 female presidents of public colleges nationwide. She served there until 1987, and has a library there named for her.
She also served as president of the University of Bridgeport from 1987 until 1992. In 2004, she founded Greenwood and Associates, an executive search, consulting, and training firm, started with Betty Asher, a former student.
They recently sold the business to Kelly Services, a Fortune-ranked company, and the two women stayed on as senior advisors. She says she has been particularly proud of having been able to mentor, guide, and help others advance in their careers.
“We have well over a thousand people over the years that we’ve been able to successfully search for and place in universities as presidents or executive-level positions,” she said.
She continues to enjoy doing research, which has led to opportunities to lead webinars and help up-and-coming generations pursue their goals.
Greenwood has served on numerous boards and amassed many recognitions and awards, including the American Council on Education’s Donna Shavlik Advancement of Women Award, recognizing “women who have shaped the executive search process and significantly contributed to women’s equitable representation across the leadership pipeline.”
Not too shabby for someone who started her career when women’s options were limited, and her own mother often worked two full-time jobs.
But Kae Daly also volunteered and prioritized helping others, an example her daughter has carried throughout.
“We’re in this world to help others,” Greenwood says. “We’re in this world to try to make life better for others.
“If there was an overarching kind of goal or theme that drove me from one thing to another, it was that. You help others by also helping organizations and institutions and universities.”