ADDENDUM

PANTHER TRACKS 1995

Panther Tracks 1995 was published for the 40th Reunion of the Burlingame High School Class of 1955. It was an instant hit, due largely to the hard work of Dee (Williams) Ropers and Irene Taylor. A major part of Panther Tracks 1995 was a collection of autobiographies submitted by our classmates. Many were significant pieces; others were lesser works. And of course, there were no entries for classmates who we could not find.

Recently, Mike Reed Johnson emerged from the list of 'missing persons.' Grey asked for and received a description of how his "career" has unfolded. It made for interesting reading and with permission is reprinted here for your enjoyment.

 

Mike Reed Johnson (Yearbook photo)

The notion of a career generally presumes a plan with goals. I must admit that I have moved through my life taking advantage of opportunities or choosing a path because there was nothing else to do at the time. If this constitutes a career, then here is mine.

After graduating from BHS, I worked at odd jobs during the summer. In early September it occurred to me that maybe I should go to college. That left College of San Mateo as my only choice. Then there was a choice of a major. I took the career test and chose the recommended civil engineering. After falling down the stairs with a transit and leaving the scope with a 90-degree bend I thought that maybe I should try agricultural engineering. I transferred to University of California at Davis.

In my irrigation course I was never able to design a system that did not require water to run uphill at some point. So I moved to agricultural education where I discovered that without a long childhood in the Future Farmers of America I was not going to be able to relate to the students. Did BHS have a chapter of FFA? With major choices becoming more restricted, I chose genetics. I graduated from UC-Davis in 1959 with a B.S. in genetics.

That summer I went to work for a seed breeding company. The crops I worked with were castor beans and safflower. My supervisor convinced me that I needed a graduate degree if I wanted to move up in that industry. I was able to get into San Francisco State University as a master's student and continued in genetics. I made a decision early to go for a junior college teaching credential and was back at College of San Mateo doing student teaching.

Again I was urged to go on for more graduate work and I entered the Ph.D. program at University of Oregon. I received my Ph.D. in 1966 in population biology. I took my first job at Kent State University before I received the degree and finished my dissertation on the job. In 1966 I took a year's leave from Kent State University and did postdoctoral work with Paul Ehrlich at Stanford. After Kent State University I was on the faculty at Florida State University for four years.

My next stop was at Kansas State University where I worked in the Division of Biology. I was the Associate Director of the Konza Prairie Research Natural Area. Konza Prairie was purchased by the Nature Conservancy for Kansas State University for studies on the tallgrass prairie. Konza Prairie was formerly the Dewey Ranch where the first "Marlboro Country" ad was filmed and where Custer grazed the horses of the Seventh Cavalry.

It was at Kansas State that I became even more involved with computers and taught graduate courses in both biology and computer science. My wife finished her Ph. D. degree in entomology and took a job at Texas A&M. I took the risk of leaving a tenured position at KSU and followed her. I was not able to find a job in biology so I looked for computer jobs and had four offers in two weeks. I went to work on NASA projects through USDA. I worked on remote sensing of agricultural systems from satellite data.

We decided to move back west to the country we loved and the families we missed. I have been on the faculty in Computer Science at Oregon State University since 1985. I have co-authored four textbooks in computer science and have written numerous papers in biology and computer science.

I have six children ranging in age from 11 to 38. I guess that my real career was the 27 years that I spent changing diapers.

(Ed. note: The most glaring omission from Mike's bio is his family. They are his wife, Kathleen (Supervisor, Plant Pest and Disease Programs, Oregon Department of Agriculture), Diane (a Florida State University alumnus), Joanne (a Colorado Mountain College alumnus), Rosemary (a research project manager at Oregon Health Sciences University), Marjorie (a senior in Chemical Engineering at OSU), Michael (a junior in Music Education at University of Pacific), and Susan (a student at Leslie Middle School).

 The 30's
Just getting our feet on the ground

The 40's
Coolidge cool

The 50's
Cake and green cords

The 60's
Dr. Johnson and niece Mary

I attended College of San Mateo where I received an AA. degree. I continued at U.C.Davis where I received a B.S. degree in Genetics. I began graduate school at San Francisco State where I worked toward a junior college teaching credential. I became interested in research and decided rather to continue for a Ph.D. in biology. I earned my doctorate in 1966 from the University of Oregon and have been in academia most of the time since. I was on the faculty at Florida State University when I married Kathleen. We have since been at Kansas State University (where Kathleen earned her doctorate in entomology), Texas A.& M., and Oregon State University. On the move to Texas my field changed from biology to computer science. I have been in the Computer Science Department at Oregon State University since 1985. Kathleen is the Supervisor of the Plant Pest and Disease Programs for the Oregon Department of Agriculture. I have six children (a son and a women's basketball team) and four granddaughters. Two daughters will be getting married this year, my son is a senior in college, and my youngest daughter is in middle school. My two oldest daughters, Joanne and Diane, graduated from Colorado Mountain College and Florida State University respectively. Rosemary and Marjorie are the brides to be. They both graduated from Oregon State University. Rosemary now has a master's degree in public health and works at Oregon Health Sciences University. Marjorie is a chemical engineer with Intel. My son, Michael , is majoring in mathematics and music education at University of Pacific. He is at Penn State University in a special math program until December.

My interests are my family, hiking, camping, fishing, and railroads. Oregon is our paradise with annual escapes to Hawaii.

Sunriver, Oregon (7/04)
The 70's
Romance

The 80's
Children (this is our last, Susan)

The 90's
Grandchildren (our first, Emily and Danielle)

The 00's
The Gang
The couple (5/01 and still romance)

High School Graduation 2006

This family photo is of Mike and Kathleen Johnson's children and grandchildren following graduation ceremonies at South Salem High School. Shown L. to R. are grandson Johnny and mother Marjorie, graduate Susan, Michael, and granddaughter Grace and mother Rosemary. Graduate Susan garnered many academic awards, the International Baccalaureate award the most prestigious. In the Fall, Susan heads for St. Olaf's College in Minnesota, majoring in organ performance and chemistry.

Mike's sister, Sally (Johnson) Barker, graduated from BHS with the Class of 1956. Mike (and wife, Kathleen) and Sally attended the Class of '56 50th Reunion in October of 2006. When living in Burlingame, the Johnsons lived in three homes: on California Drive, Balboa Ave, and Cortez Ave. Mike says that he liked the California Drive house the best because the trains went by across the street. During the Reunion Weekend Mike and Sally visited those homes shown below.

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(April 2010) Mike's youngest child, Susan, graduates from St.Olaf's College in June 2010 with degrees in Chemistry and Organ Performance. The picture is her poster for her Senior Organ Recital. Susan goes next to the University of Oaklahoma where she will be a graduate assistant in music studying for a masters degree in organ performance.

(Below)Susan at recital. Flowers next to bench are from her sisters and brother. The young man ia a page turner.