{"id":1026,"date":"2019-08-16T14:06:17","date_gmt":"2019-08-16T18:06:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/society\/?page_id=1026"},"modified":"2021-10-18T15:20:02","modified_gmt":"2021-10-18T19:20:02","slug":"donor-spotlight-jeff-johnson","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/society\/donor-spotlight-jeff-johnson\/","title":{"rendered":"Donor Spotlight: Jeff Johnson"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Jeff Johnson Builds Libraries<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Jeff<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

When Jeff Johnson first walked into the John C. Hodges Undergraduate Library as a UT Architecture student, he had no inkling of the role libraries \u2013 and this one in particular \u2013 would play in his life and career. More than four decades later, the lauded local architect, who recently received the Gold Medal for career achievement from East Tennessee\u2019s chapter of the American Institute of Architects, has become the go-to guy when someone needs a library built, and he is an invaluable supporter of UT Libraries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a lifelong lover and collector of books, Johnson spent much of his time as an architecture student in the UT campus libraries, both studying and reading for pleasure. \u201cBetween Hoskins and Hodges, I was overwhelmed by the opportunities to just wander the stacks and find such amazing material,\u201d Johnson recalls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He earned his Architecture degree in 1976 and spent the remainder of the Carter years not building things. Projects were few and far between due to high interest rates, and Johnson put his college graphic design courses to use designing exhibits for the Children\u2019s Museum of Oak Ridge and working on the public education project An Appalachian Experience. This three-year project was spearheaded by Jim Stokely III \u2013 son of Wilma Dykeman Stokely \u2013 and created numerous projects, teaching materials, literary works, and documentary videos. One of these was 1982\u2019s An Encyclopedia of East Tennessee, which Johnson and Jim Stokely edited and designed together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everybody uses the library, but nobody graduates from there, so it\u2019s important to develop a base of support.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In 1986, when Johnson joined local architecture firm McCarty Holsaple McCarty, the very first project he worked on was the remodel of Hodges Library. UT had chosen to renovate Hodges Undergraduate Library rather than construct a new building when Hoskins Library reached its shelf and seating capacity in 1979. The new $29 million, six-story, ziggurat-shaped building opened in 1987. \u201cI got to know the building from the inside out during that time period,\u201d Johnson says. \u201cI was involved in everything from the specifications for the stacks, the carpet, the tables, I helped design the carrels \u2013 I did the actual line drawings for a lot of it, so I know the library very well.\u201d He has since been involved in every library project MHM has taken on over the last three decades, including Blount County Public Library, Johnson City Public Library, Bristol Public Library (VA), and LaFollette Public Library.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ongoing presence of libraries in his life is not relegated to the professional realm. Johnson is a dedicated library supporter: he is the current president of the Knox County Public Library Foundation, a member of the Friends of the Knox County Public Library, and a member and former president of the Library Society of UT\u2019s board of directors. His lifelong passion for book collecting has also led to a recent induction into New York City\u2019s prestigious Grolier Club, America’s oldest and largest society for bibliophiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Johnson wants his engagement to make a difference. \u201cWhat I hope to do as a member of the UT Library Society,\u201d he says, \u201cis to increase the awareness of the need for people to give money to the UT Libraries, since it doesn\u2019t have a graduating class. Everybody uses the library, but nobody graduates from there, so it\u2019s important to develop a base of support that other colleges in the university have naturally.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He is also proud of the connections he has helped forge between Knox County\u2019s library organizations. When the Knox County Public Library Foundation launched the Papers to Pixels campaign to digitize the historic archives of the Knoxville News Sentinel, Johnson helped bring UT Libraries in as a partner, and the annual Wilma Dykeman Stokely Lecture Series continues to be a success due in part to a collaboration that Johnson supported between the Friends of the Knox County Public Library, the Knox County Public Library Foundation, and the Library Society of UT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johnson has seen many things change over the years he\u2019s been designing and building libraries. He was intimately involved in the design process for Hodges\u2019 second-floor Commons in 2011, a space that focuses on meeting students\u2019 changing needs. \u201cIt\u2019s much more about group study,\u201d he observes, \u201cabout studio areas to produce materials. It\u2019s also about being alone together \u2013 where people are on their headphones but don\u2019t want to be alone in their rooms on headphones. It\u2019s more sociable that way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I love to go to the exhibits that Special Collections pulls together.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Johnson appreciates more traditional library roles and services as well. \u201cWhere I am now in my life, I love the Special Collections areas,\u201d he says. \u201cI love to go to the exhibits that Special Collections pulls together.\u201d Supporting these unique resources is a major reason Johnson donates to UT Libraries. He also values the lending privileges he receives as a perk of being a Library Society member, and is looking forward to spending time this winter at home perusing electronic literature bibliographies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During most of 2019, Johnson has been a key architectural leader of a team of St. John\u2019s Episcopal Cathedral parishioners directing a major restoration of the Romanesque structure on the corner of Cumberland Avenue and Walnut Street that has stood as a Knoxville landmark since 1892. \u201cIt has been one of the most challenging and rewarding projects I\u2019ve ever been a part of,\u201d says Johnson. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On October 25, 2019, Johnson was recognized with an Accomplished Alumnus Award, presented jointly by Dean of Libraries Steve Smith and Dean Scott Poole of the College of Architecture and Design. \u201cOver the past 30 years, Jeff Johnson has built a career that few can match, and he has supported his alma mater all along the way. We are so proud to call him one of ours, and are honored to recognize him with an Accomplished Alumnus Award,\u201d says Dean Smith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spending time at home is a priority for Johnson these days. There\u2019s nothing he and his wife, Lyn, would rather be doing than doting on his grandson, James, who was born on January 2, 2019. And after more than three decades at McCarty Holsaple McCarty, a lifetime of traveling (including running with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain \u2013 just once!), and years of community engagement, Johnson has earned that downtime. But he\u2019s not done yet. \u201cI\u2019m still a few years away from retiring, but I\u2019m starting to think about what I want to do when I\u2019m no longer an architect,\u201d he says. And while he doesn\u2019t think he\u2019ll be designing any buildings after leaving MHM, none of the ideas he mentions sound much like he\u2019ll be slowing down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Jeff Johnson Builds Libraries When Jeff Johnson first walked into the John C. Hodges Undergraduate Library as a UT Architecture student, he had no inkling of the role libraries \u2013 and this one in particular \u2013 would play in his life and career. More than four decades later, the lauded local architect, who recently received … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":300,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"yoast_head":"\nDonor Spotlight: Jeff Johnson - The John C. Hodges Society - Libraries: The University of Tennessee, Knoxville<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The UT Libraries serves the flagship campus of the state university system. The Libraries support the teaching, research, and service mission of the university and enhances the academic experience of each student at the Knoxville campus \u2014 through outstanding print and electronic collections, reference and instructional services, and top-notch facilities and technological resources. The John C. Hodges Library, Webster C. Pendergrass Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine Library, and George F. DeVine Music Library serve the Knoxville campus.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow\" \/>\n<meta name=\"googlebot\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"bingbot\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/society\/donor-spotlight-jeff-johnson\/\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/society\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/society\/\",\"name\":\"The John C. Hodges Society\",\"description\":\"Libraries: The University of Tennessee, Knoxville\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/society\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/society\/donor-spotlight-jeff-johnson\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/53\/files\/ET5A8541-e1565986702844-1024x512.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/society\/donor-spotlight-jeff-johnson\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/society\/donor-spotlight-jeff-johnson\/\",\"name\":\"Donor Spotlight: Jeff Johnson - The John C. Hodges Society - Libraries: The University of Tennessee, Knoxville\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/society\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/society\/donor-spotlight-jeff-johnson\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-08-16T18:06:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-10-18T19:20:02+00:00\",\"description\":\"The UT Libraries serves the flagship campus of the state university system. The Libraries support the teaching, research, and service mission of the university and enhances the academic experience of each student at the Knoxville campus \\u2014 through outstanding print and electronic collections, reference and instructional services, and top-notch facilities and technological resources. The John C. Hodges Library, Webster C. Pendergrass Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine Library, and George F. DeVine Music Library serve the Knoxville campus.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/society\/donor-spotlight-jeff-johnson\/\"]}]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/society\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1026"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/society\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/society\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/society\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/300"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/society\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1026"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/society\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1026\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1733,"href":"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/society\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1026\/revisions\/1733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/society\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}