James A. Johnson

James A. Johnson is Chairman of Johnson Capital Partners from 2001 to the present. He is also the senior advisor to the Chairman and CEO of Cranemere, LLC.  He was Vice Chairman of Perseus LLC from 2000-2012. Prior to joining Perseus, Mr. Johnson served as Vice Chairman (1990), Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (1991-1998), and Chairman of the Executive Committee (1999) of Fannie Mae.  Before joining Fannie Mae, Mr. Johnson was a Managing Director in Corporate Finance at Lehman Brothers. Prior to joining Lehman Brothers, he was President of Public Strategies, a Washington, D.C.-based consulting firm he founded to advise corporations on strategic issues. From 1977 to 1981, Mr. Johnson was Executive Assistant to Vice President Walter F. Mondale, where he advised the Vice President on domestic and foreign policy and political matters. Earlier, he was employed by the Dayton Hudson Corporation (Target Corporation), worked as a staff member in the U.S. Senate, and was on the faculty of Princeton University.

Mr. Johnson serves as Chairman Emeritus of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and The Brookings Institution. Mr. Johnson also serves on the Boards of Directors of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. and Forestar Group, and previously served on the Board of Directors at Target Corporation, UnitedHealth Group, Gannett, and Temple Inland among others. He chairs the Advisory Council of the Stanford Center on Longevity. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Council of the National Museum of African American History.  He’s a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and he also serves on the International Council of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard.

Mr. Johnson holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Minnesota and a Masters in Public Policy from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University. In 1999, Mr. Johnson received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters Degree from Howard University, and in 2002, he received an Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree from Skidmore College. Mr. Johnson also received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters Degree from Augsburg College in May 2006. In 1997, Mr. Johnson received an Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree from Colby College and an Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree from the University of Minnesota in May 2006.