Richard Johnson

Richard Allan (Dick) Johnson PEng (1932-2023), Past President of EGM

Dick Johnson dedicated his entire long and distinguished 54-year career at the University of Manitoba in the Faculty of Engineering and central administration. He retired as Vice-Provost in 1997 and was also a past president of APEM (now EGM).

Dick was born in Winnipeg 1932.

Richard (Dick) Allan Johnson, 1979

Education

Dick grew up in Winnipeg and attended Laura Secord School and Gordon Bell High School (the original one). He was the first graduate in Engineering Physics at the University of Manitoba. He won five undergraduate scholarships, the University Gold Medal in Electrical Engineering in 1954, and a National Research Council Postgraduate Scholarship. Dick graduated from the University of Manitoba with a Bachelor of Science in 1954, and a Master of Science in 1956 in Electrical Engineering.

University of Manitoba Career

Dick began his career as an Assistant Professor at the University of Manitoba in the faculty of Engineering in the Department of Electrical Engineering in 1955. He was appointed a full Professor in 1966 and served as Head of the department from 1973-76.

He was instrumental in establishing Graduate Studies and Research in Engineering, mentoring 25 post-graduate students, authoring 21 technical papers, and teaching the first computer programming courses. During those years, he was active on many committees including the Board of Governors, and the University Senate, and was the first chair of the Planning and Priorities Committee.

He was Acting Director of Planning in 1969-70, and, subsequently, authored several internal and published papers on university planning and related matters.

University of Manitoba Administrative Career

In 1977, Dick was appointed to the senior academic administration as Provost and Vice-president Academic and held positions at that level for the next 20 years, retiring in 1997 as Vice-Provost. For 15 years he served as Secretary to the Committee of Presidents of Universities in Manitoba, having responsibility for Inter Universities North for which he received the Willard J. Condo Distinguished Service Award in 1996. That same year, he was recognized as “an individual who made a difference” by the Winnipeg School Board.

He maintained a strong interest in the Icelandic Chair at the university, chairing a committee in 1996 that led to the last fund-raising campaign on the cabinet of which he served. He then chaired the ensuing Valuing Icelandic Presence Fund Committee for nine years. He published several articles on the Chair including a definitive history of it from 1900-2000.

As an Association of Commonwealth Universities Senior Travelling Fellow, he wrote a 1985 report on the restructuring of British Universities, which influenced their early retirement scheme.

He authored a second paper in 1993, on the transition from high school to university, leading to what is now University One.

Although he retired in 1997, he continued until 2009 as a Senior Scholar, producing major studies on Credit for Fieldwork, the “Trimester” system and graduate fees.

All in all, he served 54 years at the University of Manitoba, retiring on September 1, 1997.

Professional Service

Association of Professional Engineers of Manitoba

Dick registered with APEM on December 12, 1955. Throughout his career, Dick was a dedicated active member for the Association. Dick was a member of Council from 1977 to 1980 and was President in 1979. He served on many committees.

• Executive & Finance Committee for four years,
• the Board of Examiners for seven years (three as Chair),
• the Committee to Study the Act for one year,
• the Advisory- Committee on the Code of Ethics for three years,
• the Legislation Committee for six years,
• the Awards Committee for six years,
• the Nominating Committee for five years,
• the Registration Procedures Review Committee for three years,
• the Ad Hoc Committee on the Log of Experience for one year, and
• many years on the Past Presidents Committee where he led the program to provide reference books to the University of Manitoba, honouring individual past presidents.
• He has also served on the Investigation Committee for nine years (two as Chair).

To a significant degree Dick tried to keep the Association on track, providing well researched comments on a range of topics primarily related to the governance of the Association.

Dick was recognized for his service in 1976 when he was received APEM's Outstanding Service Award and again in 1998 when the Association bestowed Dick with Honorary Life Membership. https://www.enggeomb.ca/pdf/Awards/Received/1998_HonoraryLifeMembership(Johnson).pdf

Associated Activities

In addition to his activities in the APEM, Dick was actively involved with national professional organizations. He was active in the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers (CCPE), serving as a director from 1980-82. He served as Chair of their Committee on Acceptable Canadian Engineering Curriculum which recommended the creation and structure of the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board, subsequently serving as a founding member.

Dick also served from 1980-96 as a Warden of Camp 8 of the Ritual of The Calling of an Engineer, including four years as Chief Warden. He was recognized as a Fellow of Engineers Canada in 2010.

Personal Life

As a dedicated volunteer in community service. He was a Member of Cancer Care Manitoba, its Foundation and, for some 20 years, on its Planning Committee. He also served on the boards of the Winnipeg Hospital Authority, the Winnipeg Community and the Long-Term Care Authority.

One of his hobbies was philately, in which he developed major collections of India, Canada Postage Dues, and Iceland. He researched perforation methods used in Canada and elsewhere, publishing over 20 papers and one book on the subject. He was a member of the Winnipeg and British North America philatelic societies, and the Canadian Philatelic Society of Great Britain. He was also a member of the Stamp Sale committee for the Winnipeg Art Gallery of which he was President for eight years.

Dick was also passionate about the works of Gilbert and Sullivan. He first performed in Gilbert and Sullivan in high school and later in 1990 was a founding member of the Winnipeg Gilbert and Sullivan Society which produced 27 major productions during its lifetime. He claimed that there was a line from Gilbert to suit every situation.

He was a voracious reader and life-long learner, delighting in mysteries with historical settings, history, biographies, physics and mathematics, and particularly works of Thomas Hardy (his extensive collection now with the Libraries at University of Manitoba). He also wrote poetry, winning first prize in the Open Poetry competition of Islendingadagurinn in 1988 and 1994 on poems about Gimli and his cottage.

Sources

1. EGM Citation for Honorary Life Membership October 17, 1998. https://www.enggeomb.ca/pdf/Awards/Received/1998_HonoraryLifeMembership(Johnson).pdf 2. Winnipeg Free Press Obituary for November 30, 2023

Compiled by

Doug G. Chapman, PEng (SM), PhD, FEC, Honourary Life Member of EGM

Reviewed by

Glen N. Cook, PEng(SM), FEC

Posted by

Glen N. Cook, PEng (SM), FEC
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