Robert Michael “Bob” Johnson is one of the leaders featured in The Engineer’s Guide to Authentic Leadership. His story alone is reason enough to read the book. Here’s what he said about lifelong learning:
“I came back to Honeywell [after World War II] and I went back to the university on the GI Bill. I took courses like mold design, metallurgy, things I was using in my work. I loved that kind of stuff. I did this while I was working. Never stopped. I got married in 1948 but kept going to school. I believed in education.
“Look at the history of manufacturing. Go back to Thales when he discovered magnetism 500 years before Christ. It’s all a pyramid of knowledge being built. If you don’t continue to learn, you climb up to a point, but it goes beyond you. Technology is moving all the time, and you need to keep reaching. Engineers and managers should continue learning, even if it’s reading books and tech manuals and journals and articles online.”
Bob taught at the University of St. Thomas until he was 93, and had an active mind and social life for another decade. Bob died April 28, 2025, at the age of 103. We were lucky to know him and work with him for many years. He was one of a kind.
