Mr. William A. Johnson, Jr.
Distinguished Professor in Public Policy, Rochester Institute of Technology
On January 1, 2006, William A. Johnson, Jr. assumed the position of Distinguished Professor of Public Policy at the Rochester Institute of Technology, with tenure.
For 23 years, Mr. Johnson worked in the Urban League movement, first as Deputy Executive Director of the Urban League of Flint, and then for 21 years as the President and CEO of the Urban League of Rochester. He held this position until he was elected Mayor in November 1993.
Mr. Johnson completed three terms as Rochester's 64th Mayor on
December 31, 2005. He is the first African American mayor of any major Upstate
New York city.
During Mr. Johnson’s Mayoral tenure, Rochester initiated many innovative programs in the areas of citizen empowerment, community policing, neighborhood residential and commercial revitalization, youth leadership development, and waterfront revitalization. These developments resulted in an increase in the city's property valuation for the first time in 14 years. Rochester was consistently recognized as the best fiscally managed city in New York State by bonding agencies, and the city ended each year of his tenure with surpluses. It was proclaimed one of America's Most Livable Cities. In 1999, Governing Magazine named Mayor Johnson one of its 10 Top Public Officials in America.
He is a graduate of Howard University in Washington, D.C. with two degrees in political science (B.A., 1965, M.A., 1967). In 2003, Howard honored him with an Alumni Award for Distinguished Post-Graduate Achievement in Public Service. In 2006, he was recognized for outstanding public service by Rockefeller College of the State University of New York at Albany.
Mr. Johnson has also been honored as the Distinguished Minnett Professor at R.I.T (1993-94), and is the recipient of four honorary doctorates: Keuka College (1990); St. John Fisher College (1998); R.I.T (1999); and the University of Rochester (2006). He has received over 200 awards and citations during his long career, and has served on the boards of more than 30 organizations. Currently he serves as a Trustee of the Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School and the National Industries for the Blind.