Walter Johnson

Walter Johnson (born 1967 in Columbia, Missouri) is an American historian, and a professor of History and of African and African-American Studies at Harvard University, where he has also directed the Charles Warren Center for Studies in American History. Life Walter Johnson was born in Columbia, Missouri in 1967. His father, Walter L. Johnson, was a professor of economics at the University of Missouri. The auditorium in which he taught was later named in his honor. His mother, Mary-Angela Johnson, was director of the Children's House Montessori School, and a member of the boards of both the Columbia Housing Authority and the Boone County Public Library. His brother is the noted angling author and horseman Willoughby Johnson. Johnson is married to Harvard historian Alison Frank Johnson. They have five children. Education Johnson was educated at the University of Missouri Laboratory School, West Junior High School, and Rock Bridge High School, all in Columbia, Missouri. In 2006 he was inducted into the Rock Bridge High School Hall of Fame, along with NASCAR Superstar Carl Edwards. Johnson holds degrees from Amherst College, the University of Cambridge, and Princeton University, where he received a Ph.D. in History under the direction of Professor Nell Irvin Painter in 1995.