Personal: Male. Born in USA.

John A. Johnson , after completing law school at the University of Chicago in 1940, practiced in Chicago until 1943 when he entered military service with the Navy. From 1946 to 1948 he was an assistant for international security affairs in the Department of State. He joined the office of the general counsel of the Department of the Air Force in 1949 and served until 7 October 1958 (for the last six years as the general counsel) when he accepted the general counsel position in NASA. In 1963 he left NASA to become director of international arrangements at the Communications Satellite Corporation. The next year he became a vice president of COMSAT, and in 1973, senior vice president and then chief executive officer. He retired in 1980.

• Launius, Roger D, NASA Chief Historian, NASA History Office Home Page, . Accessed at: http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/index.html.