Office of Vice President for Research & Economic Development

Biography: Phyllis E. Johnson, Ph.D.

Dr. Phyllis E. Johnson was named Vice President for Research & Economic Development at the University of North Dakota in August 2009. 

A Grafton, ND, native who grew up in Grand Forks, Dr. Johnson earned her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from UND in 1971, her doctorate in physical chemistry from UND in 1976, and did postdoctoral work at the Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center (HNRC).

Dr. Johnson previously served as director in the Beltsville Area for USDA’s Agricultural Research Service. She managed a broad range of research, from entomology to genomics to remote sensing. Under her direction, USDA’s flagship Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC) led the USDA in biofuel and biobased product utilization and received three White House awards for these and other environmental activities. She was co-chair of a federal interagency working group developing science policy related to scientific collections as critical national research infrastructure. She continues to represent the U.S. government on this topic internationally. Dr. Johnson was also recognized by President Clinton as being in the top 5% of Senior Executives across the Federal government.

Before joining the Beltsville ARS, Dr. Johnson served as acting area director and associate director, Pacific West Area, USDA, ARS; research leader for nutrition, biochemistry and metabolism, USDA ARS Grand Forks HNRC; clinical instructor in internal medicine at the UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences; research chemist and Research Leader, Grand Forks HNRC; and a lab instructor at the University of Mary, Bismarck.

Dr. Johnson is active in community and national organizations, and was the first woman to be named president of a Sons of Norway district.