Wyatt Thomas Johnson

Mr. Wyatt Thomas Johnson, Jr. has distinguished service in government, publishing, and broadcasting. Bill Moyers chose him as assistant on policy, politics, and the press at the White House when Johnson was among the first class of White House Fellows. When Moyers left, he became President Johnson's closest confidant. Johnson managed LBJ's post-White House affairs-setting up the LBJ Library and overseeing his business and broadcasting operations. Subsequently he became publisher of the Dallas Times Herald and the Los Angeles Times. Afterwards, Johnson became chairman, president, and CEO of the CNN News Group, performing with distinction in each role. He then presided over a dramatic expansion at CNN and led the network into the age of digital interactivity. CNN's viewership has grown to more than 800 million viewers around the world in 208 nations and territories. Johnson has devoted much of his time to civic life, including the Mayo Clinic and M.D. Anderson boards and he has interceded in multiple unpublicized ways to render service to people in need. He is a member of the Horatio Alger Association and former member of the Rockefeller Foundation board of trustees. He has received the Horatio Alger award, Ten Outstanding Young Americans, Five Outstanding Young Texans, Five Outstanding Young Georgians, Walter Cronkite Award for excellence in journalism, and the highest honor of the Radio and Television News Directors Association, the Paul White Award. In 2006, he received the John Gardner Legacy of Leadership Award by the White House Fellows for lifetime achievement in public service.