Howard University Chair:
Dr. James H. Johnson
 Dr.
Johnson is a professor of Civil Engineering and has been dean of the
College of Engineering, Architecture and Computer Sciences at Howard
University since 1996.
Prior to this appointment, he was the chair
of the Department of Civil Engineering and interim associate vice
president for Research for Howard University. Dr. Johnson received his
B.S. from Howard University, M.S. from the University of Illinois and
Ph.D. from the University of Delaware. He has taught Department of Civil
Engineering undergraduate and graduate courses in the area of
environmental engineering including hazardous waste management,
treatment and disposal.
Dr. Johnson's research interests include
treatment and reuse of wastewater sludge and the treatment of hazardous
substances, the evaluation of environmental policy issues in relation to
minorities and the development of environmental curricula.
In the course of his Howard tenure, he has
been the head of several interdisciplinary centers located on campus and
the Howard lead in several consortia based at other universities.
Currently Dr. Johnson is the co-principal investigator (with Ramesh
Chawla), of the HBCU/MI Environmental Technology Consortium., a 17
member DOE environmental research, education and technology transfer
funded project. From 1989-2002, he was the associate director, Great
Lakes and Mid-Atlantic Center for Hazardous Substance Research-a U.S.
EPA Center Serving Federal Regions 3 and 5; participating colleges
included The U. of Michigan, Michigan State U. and Howard. From
1996-2002, he oversaw the activities of ECSEL (Engineering Coalition of
Schools for Excellence and Leadership in Education) a seven-member,
National Science Foundation-funded consortium of which Howard was the
lead institution. (Other members were CCNY, MIT, Morgan State U., U. of
Maryland, Washington U. and Penn State.)
Since 1971, Dr. Johnson has participated in
consulting activities, mostly recently from 2002 to the present in the
Office of the President, University of California, as a member of the
Environmental, Health and Safety Panel monitoring activities at the
three DOE National Laboratories operated by the University of
California. He has also been a consultant to the administrator of
Department of Public Works, Water and Sewer Utility Administration,
Washington, D.C., and to Stottler Stag and Associates where he prepared
preliminary engineering design of wastewater treatment facilities in
Livorno, Italy for the U. S. Air Force.
Dr. Johnson is a member of the National
Research Council's Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology, Civil
Engineering Research Foundation (CERF) Board of Directors, SECME's Board
of Director, Board of Directors of the Engineering Deans Council of the
American Society for Engineering Education and serves on several
university and private sector advisory committees. He has been a paper
referee, proposal reviewer or performed editorial functions for the
Water Environment Federation, the Journal of Hazardous Waste, American
Council on Education, New York State Center for Hazardous Waste
Management, State University of New York at Buffalo, International
Association on Water Pollution Research and the National Science
Foundation.
His publications number over 50 scholarly
articles, contributions to three books, and he has co-edited two books
including one on hazardous waste. Dr Johnson's memberships in
professional organizations include the American Association of
Environmental Engineering and Science Professors, American Water Works
Association, fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers, American
Society for Engineering Education and Tau Beta Pi. Dr. Johnson is a
registered professional engineer in the District of Columbia and a
diplomat of the American Academy of Environmental Engineer.
As a dedicated Howard alumnus, he has been
active participant in supporting Howard University projects. In 2000, he
was chair of the University-wide Advisory Committee for Strategic
Framework for Action II and in 1996-98, he was chair of the Howard
University Republic of South Africa Project (HURSAP), and previous to
that in 1996 he was a member of the Howard Educational Delegation to the
Republic of South Africa. He has also been an active member of the
Howard Committee on Research Infrastructure and a member of the Howard
University Task Force on Graduate Education and Research.
A Discussion with Dr. Johnson on Program Goals
"In my role as the incumbent of the Massie
Chair at Howard University, I have formulated program goals that express
actions needed to increase the participation of minorities in
environmental engineering studies and the profession. First, for
students in K-12, we must include environmental topics across the
curriculum in English, science, technology and mathematics. This may
include designing modules as well as creating on-line learning
experiences. Pedagogical avenues for advancing understanding of the
importance of the environment for this age group include outreach
programs such as those in which Howard University has been engaged for
over 30 years as well as seminars to increase parental involvement."
"The second goal is to widen the
environmental engineering focus to allow the cross-fertilization of
various disciplines in order to truly integrate all the factors that
impact on environmental policies, decision-making, research and
development and technology; these range from politics to economics to
societal values. The role of nanotechnology in achieving this goal will
operate inclusively and naturally lead to experts and scholars across a
spectrum of disciplines uniting to create new technologies and
processes."
"The third goal is one to ensure the future.
This goal concentrates on developing a cadre of eager, excited and
curious learners who will become the next generation of engineers and
scientists to forge new processes, technologies and policies to protect,
preserve, extend our natural resources and expand the possibilities of
our environment, e.g., by investigating the potential and limits of
manufacturing in space, exploitation of hydrogen-based fuels, and the
use of microbes and their enzymes to catalyze chemical reactions for
environmental applications such as decontaminating radioactive wastes
and producing plastics from agricultural crops."
"Briefly, the three goals that I expect our
College to address are:
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Increasing the participation of
minorities in science, technology, engineering and mathematical
disciplines by using environmental subjects as a platform for
teaching topics at
K-12 grade levels.
-
Increasing the interdisciplinarity/multidisciplinarity
nature of environmental engineering and science by expanding the use
of nanotechnology and computational toxicology tools in the field.
-
Encouraging and helping to train the
next cadre of environmental engineers and scientists to enter the
professoriate."
Selected Publications and Presentations
Professional Organizations/Associations/Accomplishments
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