The honor will be conferred May 6, at the American Ceramic Society's annual meeting in Cincinnati.
Johnson came to ORNL in 1974. For the past 13 years, he has managed DOE's national program in structural ceramics for advanced heat engines in ORNL's Metals and Ceramics Division. His research interests have centered on synthesis and processing of structural ceramics.
He received his bachelor's and master's degrees in ceramic engineering from North Carolina State University and a doctorate in materials engineering also from North Carolina State University.
Prior to joining ORNL, Johnson was a National Research Council postdoctoral associate at the Air Force Metals Laboratory and performed research at the Franklin Institute Research Laboratory and Coors Porcelain Co. He spent one year at another DOE facility, the Oak Ridge K-25 site.
Johnson is a member of the Nuclear and Engineering Technology Division of the American Ceramic Society. He has written or co-written approximately 60 papers.
Johnson and his wife, Susan, live in Andersonville. They have three children and four grandchildren.
ORNL, one of DOE's multiprogram national research and development facilities, is managed by Lockheed Martin Energy Research Corp.