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to Nicholas Johnson Blog FromDC2Iowa.blogspot.com
Johnson, who has travelled widely, currently teaches law, is a columnist and public lecturer, computer enthusiast, and fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science. He has formerly, among many other things, served as co-director of a public health public policy institute, network TV host, congressional candidate, author of books, articles and a nationally syndicated column, FCC Commissioner, school board member, U.S. Maritime Administrator, and law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black.
In 2009 he was included in The Yale Biographical Dictionary of American Law as one of 700 individuals described by the publisher as "leading figures in the history of Ameican law, from the colonial era to the present day."
He was born in Iowa City, Iowa, in 1934,
the son of Wendell and Edna Johnson. In 1980 he returned from Washington,
D.C., to Iowa City -- giving rise to the name of his blog, "FromDC2Iowa.blogspot.com."
He and his wife, Mary Vasey, have seven children, five grandchildren, three
great grandchildren, two cats and seven fish.
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Voice Phone (and messages): 319-337-5555
Fax: 319-335-9019 (address: "Attention Nicholas Johnson")
Postal: Box 1876, Iowa City IA 52244-1876
Parcels: UI College of Law, Melrose & Byington, Iowa City IA 52242-1113
Web site: http://www.nicholasjohnson.org
Blog: FromDC2Iowa.blogspot.com
Visiting Professor, University of Iowa
College of Law (1981-).
For details of current activities,
see
"Activities
Reports"
(from UI College of Law publication, Iowa
Advocate).
Courses: Law of Electronic Media; Cyberspace
Law Seminar.
Distinguished visiting professorships: University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1980; Syracuse University, 1980; California State University, Los Angeles, 1986; University of California San Diego (Regents' Professor), 2000.
Acting associate professor of law, University of California, Berkeley, 1960-63. Adjunct professor of law, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., 1971-73; visiting professor, University of Illinois Law School, Champaign-Urbana, 1976; University of Oklahoma, Norman, 1978; Illinois State University, Normal, 1979; College of Law, University of Iowa, 1981-; Department of Communication Studies, University of Iowa, 1982-85; Department of Theater Arts, University of Iowa, 1999; University of California San Diego, Western Behavioral Sciences Institute, 1986-91. (And see "Distinguished visiting professorships," above.)
Cases and Materials on Oil and Gas Law (2 volumes, 1961); How to Talk Back to Your Television Set (1970); Test Pattern for Living (1972); Cases and Materials on Communications Law (4 volumes, 1981-86); Introductory and Background Readings for Law of Electronic Media (1993) and Readings Supplement (1994); Law of Electronic Media in a Cyberspace Age (with David Loundy; 2 volumes, 1996); articles, notes and book reviews in such law reviews and journals as California, Columbia, Federal Communications, Georgetown, Iowa, Texas, UCLA, Virginia and Yale. About 400 separate opinions in volumes 4-43 of the official Federal Communications Commission Reports (Second Series), including the book-length Broadcasting in America (42 FCC 2d 1).
See
generally, Bibliography
(1952-95), 333-page link off of the main Web page, "Recent
Publications" (1995-present), and blog
(over 700 entries, 2006-present).
Johnson's books include, How to Talk Back to Your Television Set, Test Pattern for Living, Your Second Priority, Are We There Yet, Virtualosity, and What Do You Mean and How Do You Know?.
In 1970 Newsweek listed Johnson as one of four individuals most in demand for university presidencies (along with former Secretary of HEW John Gardner, Attorney General Ramsey Clark and Ford Foundation President McGeorge Bundy).
His over 500
speaking invitations have included one or more from each of 125 individual
colleges and universities.
Sole
administrator of billion-dollar Maritime Administration, 1964-66 (other
Maritime-related titles: Chair, Maritime Subsidy Board; Commandant, Kings
Point Maritime Academy; Director, War Shipping Authority; Chair, NATO PBOS).
One of seven Commissioners responsible for Federal Communications Commission,
1966-73. IBM Executives' Computer Concepts Course, 1967. Chair and CEO,
National Citizens Committee for Broadcasting, Washington, D.C., 1974-78,
National Citizens Communications Lobby, 1974-present. Legal representation
of nation's largest steel and cement companies and a major airline, 1963-64
(Covington & Burling, Washington, D.C.). Research, teaching, writing
and lecturing about oil and gas, shipping, ship building, broadcasting,
computers, telephone, Internet and related industries. Lecturing to numerous
corporations and trade associations. Co-Director, Institute on Health,
Behavior and Environmental Policy, 1990-93. Member school board,
Iowa City Community School District ($70-million-dollar budget), 1998-01.
llustrative
(present and former) computer conferencing/e-mail/online database accounts:
America Online, Avalon Network, CompuServe, EasyLink, Internet Navigator,
IRIS, Lexis/Nexis, MCIMail, MetaNet, PeaceNet, Prodigy, SCARCNet (global
anti-smoking activists), UI LAWNet, UI Weeg, WELL, Westlaw. Web site creation,
such as: http://www.nicholasjohnson.org
and
linked sites, http://www.resourcesforlife.com/goiowa,
http://FromDC2Iowa.blogspot.com;
UI Law Cyberspace Law Seminar use of, publication of papers on, Internet/Web.
Other electronics: Former Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission, and Iowa City Broadband and Telecommunications Commission; publisher Media Watch and access magazines; contributing editor and host, PBS network series, "New Tech Times"; freelance and nationally syndicated columnist ("Communications Watch"); professor "Cyberspace Law," "Cyberspace Law Seminar" (and "Law of Electronic Media"); extra class amateur radio operator; computer hobbyist; community video camera operator.
Travel, speaking, writing, broadcasting from Australia (1996), Austria (2006), Belgium, Bulgaria (1999), Canada, Chile (1996), Costa Rica (1994), Denmark, England, France, Georgia (Republic of, 1998), Germany (old East and West), Hong Kong (1996), Iceland, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan (1993), Korea, Malaysia (1996), Mexico (2001), Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Poland (1997), Puerto Rico, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland (2001), Thailand (1996), and Vietnam.
Broadcasting studies: Australia, Canada, England, Germany, Japan, Sweden. Writings translated into French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Vietnamese. Former board member, Volunteers in Technical Assistance (VITA); Fellow, World Academy of Art and Science (Executive Board member 1993-97). Member, Supplemental International and Comparative Law Faculty, University of Iowa College of Law International and Comparative Law Program.
Johnson
was elected to the Board of Directors, Iowa City [Iowa] Community School
District for a three-year term, 1998-2001. During this term he wrote
bi-weekly
columns on K-12 education and school board issues for the Iowa City
Press-Citizen, 1998-2001, and maintained a personal "School
Board" Web site (links not only to columns, memos and School Board
writing, but also hundreds of others' educational policy research Web sites).
Experience
at virtually every level from Precinct Captain (Austin, Texas, 1950s; Iowa
City, Iowa, 1980s), City (Iowa City Broadband and Telecommunications Commissioner,
1981-87), County (successful school board campaign and election 1998, political
party county central committee, executive committee, platform committee
chair), State (various campaigns of others), Congressional District (candidate
Iowa Third District, 1974 primary), U.S. Senate and House (briefly U.S.
Senate candidate, 1972; Congressional testimony on dozens of occasions
as agency head or public interest organization representative), Party National
Committee (board member, DNC Harriman Communications Center, Washington,
D.C.), Presidential campaigns (since 1948; in 1964 as member of President
Johnson's administration; 1976 coverage of Republican and Democratic National
Conventions for National Public Radio) and internationally (Chair, NATO
Planning Board for Ocean Shipping, 1964-66; "Midwest Opinion Leader" delegate
to NATO, 1986; Humphrey Institute "Rethinking Global Governance" project;
Volunteers in Technical Assistance (VITA) former board member; World Academy
of Art and Science fellow).
Host and contributing editor, PBS national network TV series, "New Tech Times," 1983-84; radio commentaries, National Public Radio, 1974-78, 1983-86; radio debates with Pat Buchanan (WRC-AM, summer 1976); guest on such network and syndicated shows as The Advocates, Dick Cavett, Face the Nation, Good Morning America, Merv Griffin, Kup's Show, Chris Lydon's "Connection," MacNeil-Lehrer, Bill Moyers Journal, ABC Nightline, Over Easy, Tom Snyder's Tomorrow Show, Steve Allen, Phil Donahue, Mike Douglas and over 200 local television and radio programs; over 1000 public lectures as public official and through The Leigh Bureau.
Only FCC Commissioner ever featured on the cover of the Rolling Stone. Judge, Project Censored (1975-). Informal working relationships over the years with various Hollywood producers, directors, writers and actors. Teaching in departments of communication studies and theater.
Co-Director, Institute for Health, Behavior
and Environmental Policy, 1990-93 (projects on children's use of tobacco,
handgun injuries, human genome public policy, risk assessment, television
impact on health behavior). As FCC Commissioner helped establish "anti-smoking"
public service announcements, credited with decline in U.S. tobacco use.
Author, "A Public Health Response to Handgun Injuries: Prescription --
Communication and Education," in American Journal of Preventive Medicine
(May/June 1993). Participant, CDC&P working group on "Using Entertainment-Education
to Reach a Generation at Risk" (February 1994).
Bibliography, Nicholas Johnson: A Bibliography (1952-1995) (333 pp.), available at Web site and in print; includes books, chapters, articles, appearances, radio and TV. Most writing and transcripts from April 1996 to present available in full text from Web site, see "Recent Publications," and for over 700 blog entries (2006-present) http://FromDC2Iowa.blogspot.com.