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Over the weekend, Jesse McCurdy and Anthony Winns congratulated Ron Johnson on obtaining his doctoral degree. McCurdy wrote, "Ron, congratulations on a tremendous accomplishment. Hope you continue to work with BEYA Stars and Stripes; the students need all the support they can get."
Anthony Winns, chair of BEYA Stars & Stripes, also praised Ron's achievement, writing, "Congratulations to Doctor (Major General Ret.) Ron Johnson. Ron obtained his PhD degree last week from Georgia Institute of Technology. I am proud of my friend and colleague as he continues to lead the way! Please join me in congratulating one of our own."
In 2019, Johnson received the Educational Leadership Award for College-Level Promotion of Education at the HBCU Engineering Deans Breakfast during the BEYA STEM Conference.
In the photo, Johnson is standing between Eugene M. DeLoatch, who is credited with producing more Black engineers than any other person in the history of U.S. higher education, and Johnnie Edward Wilson, a retired United States Army four-star general who served as commanding general of the United States Army Materiel Command.
Recently, Professor Johnson gave an interview to US Black Engineer magazine. When asked how he got into his line of work, he said, "I have been a 'teacher' all my life. Whether it's tutoring classmates in school, as a Calculus professor at West Point, training engineer-soldiers as commandant of the U.S. Army Engineer School, or as a professor at Georgia Tech."
Johnson went on to explain how he got to Georgia Tech, saying, "A Georgia Tech graduate and contributor asked me to meet him in New York. I met him, and he asked me to lead The Tennenbaum Institute of Enterprise Transformation."
Johnson has been at Tech for several years and has taught hundreds of engineering majors.
When asked about his best advice for a student thinking of engineering, Johnson said, "Take challenging courses in high school so that you can at least opt-out. In STEM, you must get the right math-science courses to opt in."
Johnson also shared that he has always been a math-science person and that his high school ROTC instructor, Chief Warrant Officer Donald M. Lesch, was the most significant influence on his life.
Johnson gives back by offering endowed scholarships, volunteering, and mentoring for LEAD, an organization that teaches young Black men to be better through baseball.
Johnson is also proud of receiving the Georgia Tech Distinguished Service Award, the BEYA Lifetime Achievement Award, and the "Educator of the Year" award. He is also proud of being the father of a soldier.
When asked what's next, Johnson said, "Who knows? Dean of Students…" Some fun facts about Johnson include that he is a fitness fanatic, can sing, and his favorite book is The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.