Member Biography

Ronald A. Johnson came out of Detroit and became a star football player at Michigan. Teammates voted him their Most Valuable Player twice and captain in 1968. That year he also was voted Most Valuable Player in the Big Ten and was named All-America by the Football Writers Association. In ten games in 1968, he scored 19 touchdowns, rushed for 1,391 yards, caught passes for 166 yards, and returned 9 kickoffs for 150 yards. He received the Big 10 Medal, voted the outstanding scholar -athlete in the school. Johnson was tenth in the nation in rushing in 1967 and sixth in 1968; in both years the national leader was O.J. Simpson of Southern California. Against Wisconsin in 1968, Johnson rushed for 347 yards; this was an NCAA record that lasted three years. At his on-campus salute in 1992, his former coach, Bump Elliott, said, "Ron Johnson was the best football player and the best captain I ever had." Johnson obtained a master's degree in business administration. He played seven years with the Browns and Giants in the National Football League, then moved into business in New Jersey at the executive level.