Bruce Connor Johnson was born in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, on April 28, 1911.   Dr. Johnson obtained B.S. (Chemistry, 1933) and M.S. (Organic Chemistry, 1934) degrees from McMaster University, and Ph.D. degree (Biochemistry, 1940) from the University of Wisconsin. After a postdoc at the University of Illinois in the Division of Animal Nutrition, he was appointed Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and Professor of Animal Nutrition, as well as Professor of Animal Biochemistry, at the University of Illinois, 1943-1965. He was recruited to Oklahoma in 1965, with a joint appointment as Head of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology (he provided the name) and Head of the Biochemistry Section at OMRF. He stepped down as Head of this Dept in 1979 but continued as interim Chair until 1981 From 1982 he continued research as the first Distinguished Career Scientist at OMRF for another 20 years until his death in April 2002 at age 91. His research was founded in Nutrition but was wide-ranging. In many ways he was ahead of his time, in the interest in nutrition and aging. He compared carbohydrate and protein-based diets for rats in 1973 (Adkins) and investigated the role of vitamins A and K in gene expression (epigenetics) Dr. B. Connor Johnson

Lasting influence: 828 citations (67 citations in 2011) His >300 publications have been widely cited, and are still being frequently cited.  

One of the other papers cited in 2012: A paper in Analytical Biochemistry in 1966 is still very current   University of California, Los Angeles

Connor Johnson hired 12 new assistant professors Dr Johnson received many awards for his scientific achievements, but he was also recognized as a great human being – “renaissance man” is frequently used. He was a superb teacher and mentor, to students and to the junior faculty he hired.   We are honored to preserve his legacy in this lecture series.