Robert W. Johnson, 87

Robert W. Johnson, 87, stepfather of Valerie McKenzie, a resident of Kalispell, died Nov. 6, 2009, at Miller s Manor in Logansport, Ind., after a long struggle with dementia. Dr. Johnson was born in Denver on Dec. 23, 1921, to Ernest Johnson and Edith Glassford Johnson. He was raised in Lake Forest, Ill., where his father, an economist, served for many years as president of Lake Forest College. Dr. Johnson graduated from Lake Forest Academy and attended Oberlin College until his senior year, when he bolted and joined the Navy, hoping to be a Navy pilot. A diagnosis of color-blindness dashed that and he found himself commissioned as an ensign on a Navy supply ship in the South Pacific. He felt blessed because his base was in beautiful New Zealand and the cargo was usually mutton and cabbage, items that interested neither the enemy nor, unfortunately, the Allied troops. After World War II, he returned to earn a Master of Business Administration with Distinction degree in 1946 from Harvard University and his doctorate in finance from Northwestern University in 1952. While on the faculty at the University of Buffalo, Dr. Johnson wrote the textbook that he wanted as a teacher and could not find elsewhere, and presented the manuscript to a publisher, fait accompli. Financial Management was a groundbreaking and highly successful textbook, widely regarded as a catalyst for changing the way corporate finance was taught in business schools. In 1970, he joined other professors of finance to form the Financial Management Association and was elected its first president. His research interests began with his dissertation on consumer credit, and he continued with that interest for the rest of his working life. He served as reporter-economist in the drafting of the Uniform Consumer Credit Code and as a presidential appointee on the National Commission on Consumer Finance. He founded the Credit Research Center in 1974 and served as its director for many years. The Center s numerous publications and research focused on the effects of public policies on the cost and availability of consumer credit and Dr. Johnson testified frequently on these issues before legislative committees at the state and federal levels. Dr. Johnson joined the faculty of the Krannert Graduate School of Management at Purdue University in 1964, where he remained until his retirement in 1997. In 2000, Purdue University honored him with an honorary degree of Doctor of Management, in recognition of his distinguished career in credit research and excellence as a teacher and mentor. He is survived by his wife, Dixie Porter Johnson, of Chicago; his stepdaughter, Valerie McKenzie, of Kalispell; and two daughters from a previous marriage, Judith Plows of New York City, and Cynthia Gaa of Willis, Texas. A memorial service will be held in West Lafayette, Ind., after the holidays.