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Paul Johnson

Paul Johnson

Professor and President, Colorado School of Mines

paul.johnson@mines.edu

Colorado School of Mines
1500 Illinois Street
Golden, CO 80401

Titles

  • Affiliate Global Futures Scholar, Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory
  • Professor and President, Colorado School of Mines

Biography

Paul C. Johnson is the 17th President of Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado. Mines is world-renowned for producing highly sought-after scientists and engineers, innovations and objective analyses, especially in fields relevant to earth, energy and the environment.

Dr. Johnson’s career reflects his strong passion for innovation, education and student success. He began his career at Shell Development in Houston, developing novel approaches for managing and restoring contaminated soil and groundwater sites. He then joined the faculty at Arizona State University to continue this work and share his experiences with students. He was attracted to the presidency at Colorado School of Mines because of its focused mission, long history of rich industry partnerships, use-inspired research programs, reputation for producing outstanding graduates and strong alumni affinity. 

He has received awards recognizing his contributions to education and research, including the Fair Distinguished Engineering Educator Award from the Water Environment Federation, the Brown and Caldwell Lifetime Achievement Award in Remediation, and the National Ground Water Association’s Keith E. Anderson Award. A chemical engineer, Dr. Johnson earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of California-Davis and master’s and doctoral degrees from Princeton University.

Education

  • PhD, Princeton University, 1987
  • MA, Princeton University, 1984
  • BS, University of California - Davis, 1983

Expertise

Journal Articles

2014

Ekre, R., P. C. Johnson, B. E. Rittmann and R. Krajmalnik-Brown. 2014. Method for assessing source zone natural depletion at chlorinated aliphatic spill sites. Groundwater Monitoring & Remediation 34(2):60-70. DOI: 10.1111/gwmr.12049. (link )

2011

Johnson, P. C., O. Revis and J. C. Johnson. 2011. Chemical prey cues influence urban microhabitat preferences of Western black widow spiders, Latrodectus hesperus. Journal of Arachnology 39:449-453. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1636/Hi11-19.1. (link )

2010

Beaulieu, J. J., J. L. Tank, S. K. Hamilton, W. M. Wollheim, R. O. Hall Jr, P. J. Mulholland, B. J. Peterson, L. R. Ashkenas, L. W. Cooper, C. N. Dahm, W. K. Dodds, N. B. Grimm, S. L. Johnson, W. H. McDowell, G. C. Poole, H. M. Valett, C. P. Arango, M. J. Bernot, A. J. Burgin, C. L. Crenshaw, A. M. Helton, P. C. Johnson, J. M. O Brien, J. D. Potter, R. W. Shiebley III, D. J. Sobota and S. M. Thomas. 2010. Nitrous oxide emission from denitrification in stream and river networks. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA) 108(1):214-219. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1011464108. (link )

Bernot, M. J., D. J. Sobota, R. O. Hall Jr, P. J. Mulholland, W. K. Dodds, J. R. Webster, J. L. Tank, L. R. Ashkenas, L. W. Cooper, C. N. Dahm, S. V. Gregory, N. B. Grimm, S. K. Hamilton, S. L. Johnson, W. H. McDowell, J. L. Meyer, B. Peterson, G. C. Poole, H. M. Valett, C. Arango, J. J. Beaulieu, A. J. Burgin, C. L. Crenshaw, A. M. Helton, P. C. Johnson, J. Merriam, B. R. Niederlehner, J. M. O Brien, J. D. Potter, R. W. Scheibley, S. M. Thomas and K. Wilson. 2010. Inter-regional comparison of land-use effects on stream metabolism. Freshwater Biology 55:1874-1890. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2427.2010.02422.x. (link )

2009

Hall Jr, R. O., J. L. Tank, D. J. Sobota, P. J. Mulholland, J. M. O Brien, W. K. Dodds, J. R. Webster, H. M. Valett, G. C. Poole, B. J. Peterson, J. L. Meyer, W. H. McDowell, S. L. Johnson, S. K. Hamilton, N. B. Grimm, S. Gregory, C. N. Dahm, L. W. Cooper, L. R. Ashkenas, S. M. Thomas, R. W. Sheibley, J. D. Potter, B. R. Niederlehner, P. C. Johnson, A. M. Helton, C. L. Crenshaw, A. J. Burgin, M. J. Bernot, J. J. Beaulieu and C. Arango. 2009. Nitrate removal in stream ecosystems measured by 15N additiona experiments: Total uptake. Limnology And Oceanography 54(3):653-665. (link )

Mulholland, P. J., R. O. Hall Jr, D. J. Sobota, W. K. Dodds, S. E. Findlay, N. B. Grimm, S. K. Hamilton, W. H. McDowell, J. M. Obrien, J. L. Tank, L. R. Ashkenas, L. W. Cooper, C. N. Dahm, S. V. Gregory, S. L. Johnson, J. L. Meyer, B. J. Peterson, G. C. Poole, H. M. Valett, J. R. Webster, C. Arango, J. J. Beaulieu, M. J. Bernot, A. J. Burgin, C. L. Crenshaw, A. M. Helton, P. C. Johnson, B. R. Niederlehner, J. D. Potter, R. W. Shiebley and S. M. Thomas. 2009. Nitrate removal in stream ecosystems measured by 15N addition experiments: Denitification. Limnology And Oceanography 54(3):666-680.

2008

Mulholland, P. J., A. M. Helton, G. C. Poole, R. O. Hall Jr, S. K. Hamilton, B. J. Peterson, J. L. Tank, L. R. Ashkenas, L. W. Cooper, C. N. Dahm, W. K. Dodds, S. E. Findlay, S. V. Gregory, N. B. Grimm, S. L. Johnson, W. H. McDowell, J. L. Meyer, H. M. Valett, J. R. Webster, C. Arango, J. J. Beaulieu, M. J. Bernot, A. J. Burgin, C. L. Crenshaw, P. C. Johnson, B. R. Niederlehner, J. M. O'Brien, J. D. Potter, R. W. Sheibley, D. J. Sobota and S. M. Thomas. 2008. Stream denitrification across biomes and its response to anthropogenic nitrate loading. Nature 452:202-205. DOI: 10.1038/nature06686. (link )

2007

Xu, Y., L. A. Baker and P. C. Johnson. 2007. Trends in groundwater nitrate contamination in the Phoenix, Arizona region. Ground Water Monitoring and Remediation 27(2):49-56. DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-6592.2007.00135.x. (link )

Presentations

2000

Xu, Y., L. A. Baker and P. C. Johnson. 2000. Groundwater nitrate accumulation in an arid agro-urban ecosystem, Phoenix, Arizona. 30 May, American Geophysical Union Spring Meeting, Washington, D.C.

Conference Papers

2010

Toke, N. A., P. C. Johnson and K. C. Nelson. 2010. Earthquakes, cities and lifelines: Lessons integrating tectonics, society and engineering in middle school earth science. Presentation at the December 13-17 at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, San Fransicso,.