BU Gathers to Remember W. Norman Johnson
Memorial for former dean of students held at Marsh Chapel
More than 100 alumni, faculty, and friends of Boston University gathered at Marsh Chapel on May 14 to celebrate the life of Wendell Norman Johnson, a former vice president and dean of students at Boston University, who died of pancreatic cancer on December 7, 2006, at the age of 72. A naval officer, a Vietnam veteran, and a key figure in the growth of student life at BU, Johnson was honored by a Tri-Service Color Guard from the University’s Reserve Officers Training Corps and remembered by his colleagues, children, and friends.
“In The Republic, Plato tells us the four virtues were courage, justice, temperance, and wisdom,” said John Silber, president emeritus of Boston University. “These virtues describe Norm Johnson. I have never known a person to so fully embody these four virtues as he.”
After graduating from the New England College of Pharmacy, spending 32 years in the Navy and rising to the rank of rear admiral, and fighting in Vietnam, Johnson, born and raised in Roxbury, Mass., came to Boston University in 1989 as dean of students. After two years, he took on additional responsibilities as vice president as well. He was described as a man who demanded respect and who believed education to be of the highest priority. During his tenure, he created the Educational Resource Center, which provides tutoring for students. He watched the campus grow by more than 2,000 students, and he took on the task of creating programs and developing policies with the best interests of the students in mind.
The project closest to his heart was the Boston University Residential Charter School (BURCS). In 1991, Johnson came up with the idea, called the First in Peace project, of creating residential schools on decommissioned military bases for children in foster-care situations. With the support of the University, Johnson began a similar project at BU, and the BURCS opened in Granby, Mass., in 1998. After two years of operation, the school closed because of inadequate funding.
“Our approach was to develop a school that had a residential component for these young people,” said Johnson in 2000. “The distinction is not subtle; it’s based on the belief that children who have been deprived of a stable and nurturing environment could thrive and succeed in school if they were given the right opportunity.”
Silber said the BURCS was in keeping with Johnson’s abiding “concern for justice,” and his desire “to see to it that every person had an equal opportunity was animated by his understanding that there is no equal opportunity without equal nurture early in life.”
Johnson retired from BU in 2003.
While his list of accomplishments at BU is long, what many people attending the service remembered about Johnson was his spirit, his determination, and his ability to love life.
Family friend Mary McManus, who met Johnson in the early 1990s at a Veterans Affairs clinic, wrote a poem in celebration of his life. She read her piece at the beginning of the service: “Always the Rear Admiral, at BU, you / ran a very tight ship. / Parents knew you were in charge, from / their kids you’d take no lip. / Your talents were far reaching and so / much did you do / for Boy Scouts, or for youth in need / just to name a few.”
And Johnson’s son, Norman Johnson, Jr., called on all the attendees to mentor someone when they have the chance and provide help to someone in need.
“It’s the best way to honor my dad,” he said.
Nicole Laskowski can be reached at nicolel@bu.edu.