[1] Johnson, a skilled baseball player, played for the U.S. Army exhibition team, but severely injured his shoulder in a collision with an opponent while covering first base.
[1] At the beginning of Johnson's presidency, George Mason University, which opened in 1957, was largely a commuter college with an enrollment of about 10,000 students.
[1][2] Under Johnson, who was president from 1978 to 1996, George Mason University underwent massive growth in student numbers and the construction of new buildings on campus.
[1] As president, Johnson cultivated relationships with corporations and business executives in the surrounding Washington metropolitan area, hoping to emulate the success of Stanford University and transform northern Virginia and GMU into a second Silicon Valley.
A meeting between Johnson and executives from AT&T, IBM, and Xerox led him to create five new technology-focused master's program, as well as a doctoral degree in information technology.
[1] His relationship with corporate donors led to endowments that brought high-profile talent to George Mason, including civil rights activist Roger Wilkins and the Nobel laureate economist, James Buchanan.
[1] Upon retiring, George W. Johnson was invited to lecture at numerous universities throughout the country on his unique administrative philosophy.