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George Johnson may be the first university president to come out in support of ignorance. During his 17 years as president of George Mason University, he often told his academic colleagues to "forget anything you think you know and return to ignorance." It was his shorthand for the need for change in the way a university operates and associates with its community.
Johnson never set out to be an academic entrepreneur. He grew up in a small town in North Dakota, earned a Ph.D. in English literature at Columbia University, and planned to be a scholar and a teacher. At Temple University, he headed the English department and later served as dean of students.
Johnson moved to Northern Virginia in 1978, just as the area was transforming itself from sleepy suburbs and rural enclaves into a network of communities dominated by high-tech corporations. He pioneered a new academic model at GMU - the antithesis of the 19th century ivory-tower academy that transported young men away from the world to contemplate literature and philosophy. Instead, the school served a diverse body of students who stayed in the community, learning while they earned.
When Johnson arrived, GMU was a fledgling institution with 9,600 students. Today, the university has 24,000 students, 103 degree programs, 11 doctoral programs, and a law school. Working with his high-tech neighbors, Johnson established the nation's first doctoral program in information technology. He joined forces with business to break down barriers and to create the first "interactive" university to prepare students for the 21st century. Today the GMU model is being copied nationwide.
Johnson, who retired as GMU president in June, downplays his achievements. "I'm a workingman's son. I just showed up for work every day and did my best."
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