SUMMARY AND HIGHLIGHTS: This resume
reflects the variety of Johnson's roles as: an academic; government official;
public interest advocate; administrator, manager and corporate representative;
writer, lecturer, TV and radio performer; politician; lawyer; and computer
and communications technologies expert.
Among many other things, Johnson teaches law, lectures for the Leigh
Lecture Bureau, is a computer enthusiast, fellow of the World Academy of
Art and Science -- and a former co-director of a public health public policy
institute, network TV host, congressional candidate, author of books and
a nationally syndicated column, FCC Commissioner, and Supreme Court law
clerk to Justice Hugo Black. He was born in Iowa City, Iowa, in 1934, the
son of Wendell and Edna Johnson, where he now lives with his wife, Mary
Vasey. They have six children, five grandchildren and a cat.
ADDRESSES
E-mail: 1035393@mcimail.com
Voice Phone (and messages): 319-337-5555
Fax: 319-335-9019
Postal: Box 1876, Iowa City IA 52244-1876
Parcels: UI College of Law, Melrose &
Byington, Iowa City IA 52242-1113
Web site (texts online): http://soli.inav.net/~njohnson
CURRENT POSITIONS
Visiting Professor, College of Law, University of Iowa; lecturer, The
Leigh Lecture Bureau. National board/advisory board memberships: Center
for Media Education; Cultural Environmental Movement; FAIR (Fairness and
Accuracy in Reporting); Hightower and Associates; International Society
for General Semantics; Kazakhstan Media Project; Planet Central Television
(cable network); Project Censored; Volunteers in Technical Assistance;
War and Peace Foundation; Working Assets Long Distance.
ACADEMIC AND WRITING EXPERIENCE AND AWARDS
University of Iowa Experimental Schools, 1936-1952. B.A., 1956, LL.B,
1958, University of Texas, Austin. L.H.D., Windham College, 1971.
Phi Beta Kappa, Pi Sigma Alpha, Phi Eta Sigma, Phi Delta Phi, Chancellors,
Order of the Coif, Golden Key. Poynter Fellow, Yale University, 1971.
Distinguished visiting professorships: University of Wisconsin, Madison,
1980; Syracuse University, 1980; California State University, Los Angeles,
1986.
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; Department of Communication Studies, University of Iowa,
1982-85; College of Law, University of Iowa, 1981-; University of California
San Diego, Western Behavioral Sciences Institute, 1986-91.
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, 198186);
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).
Newsweek magazine once listed 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).
AWARDS, GENERAL
One of Ten Outstanding Young Americans, U.S. Jaycees, 1967; New Republic
Public Defender Award, 1971; Civil Liberties Award, Georgia Civil Liberties
Union, 1972; DeWitt Carter Reddick Award, University of Texas, 1977; George
Stoney Award for Humanistic Communications, National Federation of Local
Cable Programmers, 1987.
BIOGRAPHICAL LISTINGS
Primary: Marquis Who's Who in America. Other: Bio-Base
(1990); Biography Index (vols. 8, 9, 10; 1971, 1974, 1977); The Blue
Book Leaders of the English-Speaking World (1976); Brown, Les, The
New York Times Encyclopedia of Television (1977); Burke, W.J. and Howe,
Will D., American Authors and Books, 1640 to the Present Day (3rd
rev. ed. 1972); Celebrity Register (3rd ed. 1973); Contemporary
Authors (vols. 29-32, 1978); Current Biography Yearbook (1968);
Directory of Law Teachers; International Authors and Writers
Who's Who; Les Brown's Encyclopedia of Television (1982); The
New York Times Biographical Edition (1971); Paneth, Donald, The
Encyclopedia of American Journalism (1983); Personalities of America;
Syndicated Columnist Contacts; Syndicated Columnists Directory;
University of Texas Alumni Directory; University of Texas Law
Alumni Association Alumni Directory; Who's Who in America (see
above); Who's Who in Entertainment; Who's Who in Government (1972);
Who's Who in Society; Who's Who in the South and Southwest
(1973); Who's Who in U.S. Writers, Editors & Poets; Who's
Who in the World (1974; 1976); Who's Who in Writers, Editors &
Poets; The Writers Directory (1976; 1980; 1982; 1984; 1986;
1988).
BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT EXPERIENCE
Sole administrator of billion-dollar Maritime Administration, 1964-66
(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 and
related industries. Lecturing to numerous corporations and trade associations.
Co- Director, Institute on Health, Behavior and Environmental Policy, 1990-93.
COMPUTER CONFERENCING AND ELECTRONICS
Presidential Advisor, White House Conference on Libraries and Information
Services, 1979 (planned and managed with computer conferences through EIES
(Electronic Information Exchange System, New Jersey Institute of Technology));
former Chair, Virtual Classroom Project, NJIT (testing of software and
teaching effectiveness via computer conferencing); former ConnectEd faculty
(New School for Social Research, New York City; computer conference-provided
college education); former University of California San Diego, Western
Behavioral Sciences Institute, International Executive Forum, faculty 1986-91
(global computer conferencing executive education). Keynoted 1991 Asia
Pacific Networking Forum in Seoul. UI Information Arcade Advisory Council,
UI Information Arcade Database Task Force (1991-92).
Illustrative (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://soli.inav.net/~njohnson, UI Law Cyberspace
Law Seminar use of, publication of papers on, Internet/Web
Other electronics: Former Commissioner, national FCC, Iowa City Broadband
and Telecommunications Commission; publisher Media Watch and access
magazines; contributing editor and host, PBS network series, "New
Tech Times"; nationally syndicated columnist, "Communications
Watch"; extra class amateur radio operator; computer hobbyist; community
video camera operator.
INTERNATIONAL
As Maritime Administrator, Chair, NATO, Planning Board for Ocean Shipping,
London and Washington (1964-66); member "Midwest Opinion Leaders"
delegation to NATO, 1987. Travel, speaking, writing, broadcasting from
Australia (1996), Belgium, Canada, Chile (1996), Costa Rica (1994), Denmark,
England, France, Germany (old East and West), Hong Kong (1996), Iceland,
Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan (1993), Korea, Malaysia (1996), Mexico, Netherlands,
New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Spain, Sweden,
Switzerland, Thailand (1996), and Vietnam. Broadcasting studies: Australia,
Canada, England, Germany, Japan, Sweden. Writings translated into German,
Italian, Japanese, Korean, Russian and Spanish. Board member, Volunteers
in Technical Assistance; Fellow, World Academy of Art and Science (Executive
Board member 1993-97).
LABOR AND PUBLIC INTEREST
Reputation as Maritime Administrator and FCC Commissioner as outspoken
consumer advocate (e.g., Professor John Kenneth Galbraith once characterized
as "citizens' least frightened friend in Washington"). Subsequent
activities as Chair, National Citizens Committee for Broadcasting and National
Citizens Communications Lobby further established credentials with "public
interest movement." Thirty-year informal association with Ralph Nader.
Government responsibilities and subsequent coalition- building efforts
often included organized labor; had unprecedented party primary support
from UAW in 1974 Congressional race.
LEGAL EXPERIENCE AND HONORS
Iowa Bar Association Citizenship Awardee, 1951. LL.B., 1958, University
of Texas, Austin; articles editor, Texas Law Review; Order of the Coif;
Phi Delta Phi. Law clerk to U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit, Judge
John R. Brown, Houston and New Orleans, 1958-59. Law clerk to U.S. Supreme
Court Justice Hugo L. Black, Washington, D.C., 1959-60. Associate, Covington
& Burling, Washington, D.C., 1963-64. Chairman, Maritime Subsidy Board,
1964-66. Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission, 1966-73. Law
professor, University of California, Berkeley, 1960-63; Georgetown University,
1971-73; University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, 1976; University of
Iowa, 1981-. Member of the Bar: U.S. Supreme Court, 1963; Iowa, 1974; District
of Columbia, 1963; Texas, 1958.
ORGANIZATIONS, ACTIVE
Center for Media Education, The Committee to Open the Channel from
People to Congress, Cultural Environmental Movement, FAIR (Fairness and
Accuracy in Reporting), Hightower and Associates, International Society
for General Semantics, Kazakhstan Media Project, News of the Weird/View
from the Ledge, Planet Central Television, Project Censored, Public Citizen,
Time Dollars, War and Peace Foundation, Volunteers in Technical Assistance,
Working Assets Long Distance, World Academy of Art and Science.
ORGANIZATIONS, AFFILIATIONS
American Civil Liberties Union, American Association of Retired Persons,
Advocacy Institute, Amnesty International, The Carter Center, Center for
Science in the Public Interest, Coalition on Alcohol Advertising, Common
Cause (former national board member), Common Cause of Iowa, Communications
Consortium, Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, Cultural
Environmental Movement, D.C. Bar, Iowa City Public Library Friends Foundation,
Iowa Civil Liberties Union (former board member), Iowa Democratic Party,
Iowa Law School Foundation, Johnson County Democrats, Johnson County United
Way, The Media Foundation (Adbusters), Melrose Avenue Neighborhood Association,
New Pioneer Coop, Public Citizen Health Research Group, Unitarian-Universalist
Society (Iowa City, IA), UI Project on the Rhetoric of Inquiry, University
of Texas Law Alumni Association. And see, above: "Academic and Writing
Experience and Awards," "Legal Experience and Honors," and
"Organizations, Active."
POLITICAL EXPERIENCE
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 (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; testifying
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; World Academy of Art and Science). Three-time
Presidential appointee: U.S. Maritime Administrator (Johnson Administration);
Federal Communications Commission Commissioner (Johnson Administration;
carry-over to Nixon Administration); Presidential Advisor, White House
Conference on Libraries and Information Services (Carter Administration).
PRINT JOURNALISM, BROADCASTING EXPERIENCE
Author, How to Talk Back to Your Television Set (1970) and Test
Pattern for Living (1971); publisher access magazine, 1975-77;
nationally syndicated columnist, "Communications Watch," 1982-86
(Gannett; Register and Tribune; Cowles; King Features syndicates); applicant,
NASA Journalist in Space Program; articles in such popular publications
as Atlantic, Harpers, The Nation, The New Republic,
The New York Times, Parade, Progressive, Saturday
Review, The Washington Post and Wired. Some writing translated
into German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Russian and Spanish.
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, 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.
Informal working relationships over the years with various Hollywood producers,
directors, writers and actors. Teaching in departments of communication
studies.
PUBLIC HEALTH
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).
Current courses: Law of Electronic Media, Cyberspace Law Seminar. Courses
previously taught: Administrative Law, Agency and Partnership, Broadcast
History, Broadcast Regulation, Constitutional Law, Corporations, Mass Communications
Law, Oil and Gas Law.