J. Erik Johnson Marker
J. Erik Johnson
John Erik Johnson was born in Brooklyn, New York in September of 1901. Graduating from Montclair High School in 1912 at the age of 16, Johnson went on to obtain a B.S. in mechanical engineering at RPI graduating in 1922. After a brief amount of time moving around and learning the industry, Johnson moved to Texas where he would eventually come to co-own a subsidiary of Geophysical Service Incorporated. This instrumentation company faced a boom following during the war leading to rapid company growth. Eventually they rebranded to Texas Instruments in 1951, where Johnson and his co-owner Eugene McDermott began to focus on the military contract side of their work [1]. Johnson was a incredibly successful individual in the field and honored during his career for his outstanding work, including being named Industrialist of the Year in 1965 [2]. His success in industry gave him the ability to advocate for education after his retirement, where he became major influence at RPI. In 1995 plans for a new engineering center had been slated and made possible by a $2.6 million donation from Johnson and other alumnus [3]. The center was opened in September of 1977, where it was dedicated shortly after to Johnson in October [3][4]. Shortly after his death on September 1st, 1995 RPI dedicated the statue with a Historical Marker to honor Johnson's contribution to campus.
References
[1] https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/jonsson-john-erik