Kristina Johnson Leaving Presidency of Ohio State University After Less Than Three Years

Kristina Johnson, president of Ohio State University, announced that she will step down at the end of the academic year. Dr. Johnson who became the sixteenth president of the university on September 1, 2020, will have the second shortest tenure of any president in school history. She had signed a five-year contract in 2020.

Published reports stated that the university’s board of trustees asked her to step down after the completion of an investigation by an outside firm after issues were raised by staff members. President Johnson later denied that was the case.

Dr. Johnson said, “Since I arrived at The Ohio State University in 2020, we have been able to achieve so much, on so many different fronts, despite considerable adversity including the COVID-19 pandemic. I am very proud of all that we have accomplished together. It’s been a privilege to serve this incredible university, and I have been honored to work as part of this brilliant, dedicated, and passionate community.”

Before coming to Ohio State, Dr. Johnson had served as chancellor of the State University of New York System from 2017 to 2020. In this role, she led a system of 64 public colleges and universities – including five academic health centers and three hospital systems – with 1.3 million students, 30,000 faculty, and 90,000 employees. Earlier in her career, Dr. Johnson served as undersecretary of energy at the U.S. Department of Energy and held academic leadership positions at Johns Hopkins University, Duke University, and the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Dr. Johnson earned a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree, and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering at Stanford University in California, where she was a varsity athlete in field hockey.