Barbara Joan "Bobbi" Johnson (born March 24, 1945) is an American former computer application engineer and beauty pageant titleholder who held the
Miss USA
Miss USA is an American beauty pageant that has been held annually since 1952 to select the entrant from United States in the Miss Universe pageant. The Miss Universe Organization operated both pageants, as well as Miss Teen USA, until 2020, ...
1964 title and has competed in the
Miss Universe
Miss Universe is an annual international beauty pageant that is run by a United States and Thailand based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall Stre ...
pageant.
After winning the
Miss District of Columbia USA
The Miss District of Columbia USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the District of Columbia in the Miss USA pageant. Four District of Columbia representatives have won the Miss USA title. Of those two, Deshauna Bar ...
crown, Johnson went on to become the first representative from the
District of Columbia
)
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, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
to achieve the title of Miss USA, at age 19. She would be the only titleholder from the District until
Shauntay Hinton
Shauntay Renae Hinton (born February 26, 1979) is an American actress and beauty queen who won the Miss USA 2002.
Biography
Born and reared in her native Starkville, Mississippi, Hinton stepped into the national spotlight as Miss USA 2002. After ...
won the crown in 2002. Johnson went on to compete in the
Miss Universe 1964
Miss Universe 1964, the 13th Miss Universe pageant, was held on 1 August 1964 at the Miami Beach Convention Hall in Miami Beach, Florida, United States. Corinna Tsopei of Kingdom of Greece, Greece was crowned by the outgoing titleholder, Ieda Maria ...
pageant, where she made the semi-finals.
Johnson later worked as an applications engineer in the computer department of
General Electric
General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...
to program
GE 400-series and
DATANET-30
The DATANET-30, or DN-30 for short, was a computer manufactured by General Electric designed in 1961-1963 to be used as a communications computer. It was later used as a front-end processor for data communications. It became the first front end co ...
computer systems.
She was interviewed about her career choice in the book ''Your Career in Computer Programming'' published in 1967.
In the book, she explained how after winning her Miss USA title she was asked by reporters what career ambition she had: "I guess they thought I’d say something like modeling or becoming an actress, but I said the first thing that popped into my head: that I wanted to be a computer programmer…".
The book also includes side-by-side photographs of her as Miss USA and at her console as an applications engineer a few years later.
References
External links
Miss USA official website* with actor
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he received numerous accolades throughout his career, which spanned six decades, including two Academ ...
1945 births
American computer programmers
Living people
Miss Universe 1964 contestants
Miss USA 1960s delegates
Miss USA winners
People from Alexandria, Virginia
20th-century American people
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