Evidence of Joe Johnson’s support and commitment to the University of Tennessee’s land-grant mission and statewide presence can be found across the UT Institute of Agriculture in signage, names of buildings, and wonderful memories.
Johnson, UT president emeritus who served the university for more than fifty years, died in September at the age of ninety.
“Dr. Johnson is the personification of a servant leader. While he loved the University of Tennessee, he also realized that the people comprising UT are what made it special. His tenure will be marked by the organization of the UT System, the first fundraising campaigns and many partnerships with government and private industry, but his legacy will be how he made people feel. He loved us and we loved him right back,” says Keith Carver, senior vice chancellor and senior vice president of UTIA.
Carver and others throughout the institute worked with him and saw him as a mentor and friend. Many affectionately called him “Dr. Joe.” Ruth Henderson McQueen, a retired 4-H specialist who continues to be active through the Tennessee 4-H Foundation and UTIA Retirees Association, posted a touching tribute to Johnson on the retirees’ Facebook page.
“Dr. Joe will be remembered by many as a giant of a man. While he was a native of Alabama and had a stable of jokes to prove it, there is not a native son who loved this state or the University of Tennessee more than he. He shaped every individual and every institution and every group of which he was a part. If he met you, he remembered you. If he entertained you at lunch, a letter was sent that very day. If you did anything noteworthy you heard from him. And if you had a great joy or a great loss of any kind in your life, he was often the first to reach out,” she writes.
“Dr. Joe loved and appreciated agriculture. He cared deeply about the 4-H program and the young people who participated. His rural roots gave him an appreciation for those who produced the food and fiber that sustains this nation, and the world. I so enjoyed hearing the stories of his growing up years and of his family, especially his grandmother. He enjoyed life, and he enjoyed good country cooking.”
Indeed, Johnson believed 4-H is an important program for all Tennesseans and offers programs of “untold value,” he said. “Through 4-H, our youth acquire knowledge and skills that aid them in K-12 schools, technical schools, colleges and universities, and whatever careers they choose. They learn to appreciate agriculture, family sciences, service to others, and community enrichment. Important values, high standards, and citizenship are stressed. I can always spot 4-H members because of their ability to speak, make presentations, and relate to all sorts of people and situations. The future of our communities, state, and nation will be better because of the skills and values that are a part of 4-H programs.”
Look around the state, and you will find Johnson’s legacy. Fittingly, the road that crosses the bridge built to connect the ag campus and the UT Knoxville campus was named Joe Johnson Drive, and JRTU of the East Tennessee AgResearch and Education Center across the river is officially the “Joseph E. Johnson Research and Teaching Unit.”
When JRTU was dedicated in 1999, then-UTIA leader Jack Britt said: “This will serve as a daily reminder of the contributions Joe has made to the teaching and research programs in agriculture and veterinary medicine and to the university at large.”
Johnson’s response to the naming of university facilities in his honor was recorded in the minutes of a Board of Trustees meeting as being “much more than he deserves and certainly more than he expected and means a great deal to him.” He certainly means a great deal to UTIA even today.
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