Dr. David Johnson
Director of Grants & Contracts
for Math, Science and Technology Initiatives
Email:
djohnson@nhu.edu
The
first in his family to attend college, Dr. David
Johnson entered college challenged by the low
expectations of others. "I was born in a
small farming town called Alamosa in southern
Colorado. It was a divided town with
Hispanics living on one side of the train tracks
and everyone else living on the other side.
There was never a doubt that those of us on the
wrong side of the tracks were considered
incapable of anything intellectual. Many
of my friends were unable to overcome that
prejudice. I was lucky. And when I
went to the University of Colorado, I resolved
to show everyone that their assumptions were
wrong. It may have been the wrong
motivator. But it worked for me. In
whatever I've done since, I’ve looked for ways
to improve the educational possibilities of
those who are in danger of being left behind."
After being a graduate student in
San Jose State University's Mexican American
Graduate Studies Department, Dr. Johnson went on
to Stanford University where he received his
Ph.D. in psychology. At San Jose State,
Dr. Johnson was the founding president of the
Chicano Association of Graduate Students and
Alumni. And at Stanford, which he attended
as a Ford Foundation Minority Fellow and a
Stanford Chicano Teaching Fellow, Dr. Johnson
served on the staff of the Assistant to the
President for Chicano affairs. He wrote
the proposal that created Stanford's Center for
Chicano Research, headed the team that created
the Chicano Cultural Center, and served a term
as editor of
Atisbos Stanford's journal of Chicano
research.
On leaving
Stanford, Dr. Johnson became a fellow of the
Duke University Round Table on Science and
Public Affairs where he worked as a staff member
of Governor Jim Hunt’s Advisory Commission on
Science, Education and Commerce and as the
legislative assistant to the Chairman of the
Education Appropriations Committee in the North
Carolina General Assembly. His work
facilitated creation of the North Carolina
School of Science and Math. He also worked
on reform of migrant labor law.
From North Carolina, Dr. Johnson
went on to Washington, D.C. where he served for
six years as staff director for Congressman
Mervyn M. Dymally (D-CA). "Dr. Dymally was
a member of the House Science and Technology
Committee and, later, the Committee on Education
and Labor. He chaired the Census
Subcommittee and the Subcommittee on Judiciary
and Education of the District of Columbia
Committee, and served a term as Chairman of the
Congressional Black Caucus. His positions
gave me the opportunity to work on science,
education and civil rights legislation."
Dr. Johnson worked on legislation that paid
reparations to Japanese Americans and Aleutian
Islanders who had been held in concentration
camps during World War II. He worked with
Congressman Dymally to change the federal
definition of "minority serving institutions" to
allow more federal funds to flow to colleges and
universities where large numbers of Hispanics
are enrolled. They were also successful in
winning increased funding for National Science
Foundation programs to encourage the
participation of minorities in science, and in
authorizing the Minority Institutions Science
Improvement Program at the U.S. Department of
Education. Under Congressman Dymally, Dr.
Johnson also served as Executive Director of the
Congressional Caucus for Science and Technology,
a group of representatives and senators who were
interested in advancing science through their
legislative activities.
Dr. Johnson left Congressman
Dymally's office in 1987 to become Executive
Director of the Federation of Behavioral,
Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, a
coalition of 19 scientific societies and some
120 graduate departments of psychology,
cognitive science and education. In that
position, Dr. Johnson represented the public
policy interests of scientists including
education researchers in the American
Educational Research Association and the Society
for Research in Child Development. Among
other things, he brought scientists to Capitol
Hill to deliver seminars aimed at educating
members of Congress and their staff members
about the applications of research to public
policy. Included in the seminars were a
variety of sessions on research related to the
education of minority students and students
whose first language is not English. Dr.
Johnson edited a book based on some of the
research on minority education. The aim
was to put in the hands of educators a single
volume containing some of the best research on
improving educational opportunities for minority
students.
After 14 years at the Federation,
Dr. Johnson went on to serve as Senior Research
Scientist in the Office of the Chancellor for
Education and Professional Development in the
Department of Defense. There he worked on
developing databases to facilitate the use of
institutional research as a tool in academic
decision-making.
Dr. Johnson more
recently served as Executive Vice President of a
San Diego based non-profit organization called
Building Engineering and Science Talent.
The organization is dedicated to increasing the
participation in science and engineering of
women, individuals with disabilities and members
of underrepresented ethnic and racial groups.
Dr. Johnson is the
Director of Grants and Contracts for Math,
Science and Technology Initiatives at The
National Hispanic University.