Jerald E. Johnson
Residing in Washington D.C., Lincoln High School graduate Jerald (Jerry) Johnson has had multiple assignments with the U.S. Government including Congressional relations, financial management, disaster response management, and international management consulting. His disaster response activities have included affiliations with both the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as both organizations have sought his services. Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks Johnson served in multiple roles for FEMA's Emergency Support Team in both New York City and Washington D.C. Subsequently he was promoted to departmental level with Homeland Security when that organization was created and now is one of two appropriations liaisons to Congress for Homeland Security. Following hurricane Katrina, Johnson was given a 6-month special assignment as the FEMA audit liaison for Congressional requests related to hurricane recovery. Recently the chief financial officer ofFEMA asked Homeland Security to allow Johnson to work in FEMA's office of finance. In his earlier years with FEMA Johnson served as the donations and voluntary agency coordinator for several natural disasters including two earthquakes in California, floods in the Midwest, and a hurricane that struck the Virgin Islands. Johnson has received numerous FEMA awards for outstanding service and achievement.
Salutatorian of his 1978 class at Lincoln, Johnson attended DePauw University, receiving a Bachelor's degree in 1982. Subsequently he attended George Washington University, which awarded him a Master's degree in Engineering Management in 1989. In 2000 he completed the senior executive fellows program at Harvard University's JFK School of Government. At Lincoln High, Johnson performed in both the marching and jazz bands, playing trombone. Also an accomplished pianist, he contributed this talent to musical productions. In later years Johnson developed an avocation as a professional art and antiques appraiser.