Biography

Joseph E. “Joe” Johnson served as the president of the University of Tennessee from 1990 to 1999 and returned to serve as interim president from 2003 to 2004. After retiring as president, Johnson, as president emeritus, continued his service to the University by building and maintaining critical relationships.

A native of Vernon, Alabama, Johnson was born on July 9, 1933.

After graduating from Hueytown High School in Alabama in 1951, he attended Birmingham Southern College in Birmingham, Alabama. He graduated in 1955 with a bachelor’s in political science and history. He served two years in the U.S. Army beginning in 1956 and was stationed in Korea. He was honorably discharged in 1958 as a sergeant.

Johnson’s work with UT began in 1958 as a research associate and instructor in the department of political science at UT Knoxville. He left one year later to work for the Tennessee state government as chief of the budget division, which led to other positions of executive assistant to the governor and deputy commissioner of finance and administration. Johnson earned a master’s degree in 1960 and his Ed.D. in higher education and industrial management in 1968 from UT Knoxville.

In 1963, Johnson returned to UT as executive assistant to then-UT President Andy Holt. He served as vice president for development from 1969 to 1973.

When the UT Health Science Center, then UT Memphis, was in need of a new chancellor, Johnson led the search. Unable to find the right candidate, President Ed Boling sent Johnson to do the job from 1970 to 1973. After returning to Knoxville to resume the position of vice president for development and executive vice president, he was selected by the UT Board of Trustees to serve as UT president in 1990.

Johnson has held almost every top UT administrative position and, as such, has been a part of much of the work that has created the University as it is today. He is credited with forming the structure of the UT System. Under his presidency, UT’s 21st Century Campaign raised more than $430 million.

He retired in 1999 only to be asked to return as interim president in 2003. He retired for a second time as president emeritus in 2004.

When the UT alumni magazine, the Tennessee Alumnus, celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2017, Johnson was chosen, and featured in the magazine, as one the university’s top 100 distinguished alumni. In the article, then-President Joe DiPietro wrote, “I can’t imagine, after serving UT so well as its president, how torn he must have been, after gaining the retirement he so well deserves, that he agreed to come back and serve as president a second time. On the other hand, his love and commitment to the institution are palpable, and he is selfless in thinking of it first.

“This job is both demanding and a privilege. If I can do it only half as well as Joe Johnson, that’ll be a tall order and a great success.”

Johnson is survived by Pat, his wife of 64 years, and daughter and son-in-law, Kelly and Bill Harlin, and two grandchildren, Luke Harlin and Tucker Harlin. He was preceded in death by his son, Kent Johnson, in 2020.