Dr. Johnson-Ross currently directs McDaniel College’s First Year Seminar Program and supports faculty development in her capacity as Associate Dean of Academic Affairs. She is also co-coordinator of the Sophomore Interdisciplinary Studies Program. She teaches International Law and Organizations, Ethnicity and Nationalism, Contemporary African Politics, and the Politics of Global Feminisms, among other topics.

As a scholar, Debora is known as a specialist in the politics of Cameroon where she taught at the University of Buea (political science and history departments) as a Fulbright Scholar from 2006 - 2007. Attending a conference of the Association of African Historians in Addis Ababa was one highlight of her Fulbright year. She subsequently hosted Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence Dr. Christopher Molem, UB Head of Department of Economics and Management, at McDaniel College. Together, they have recently published “Reclaiming the Bakassi Kingdom: The Anglophone Cameroon and Nigeria Border” in Afrika Zamani, a journal of the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa. Dr. Johnson-Ross maintains ties to Cameroon, returning to conduct study tours for students, conduct workshops on Entrepreneurship and Community Service with Dr. Molem and working with a non-profit organization, LINK-Up Development Group.