Chris Johns (born April 15, 1951) is a photographer and former

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

for ''

National Geographic Magazine ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...

'', a role he held from January 2005 to April 2014. After an internal reorganization at the organization, in April 2014, Johns was named chief content officer of

National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, and ...

. He spent many years in Africa for the magazine and is the first photographer to have been named its editor-in-chief. He started his journalism career at daily newspapers.

Biography

Prior to becoming the Beyond Yellowstone Program leader of the National Geographic Society, Johns served as executive director of the Society's Centers of Excellence and chief content officer, overseeing the expression of ''National Geographic'''s editorial content across various media platforms. He was the ninth editor-in-chief of ''National Geographic'' from January 2005 to April 2014. During his editorship, Johns' focus on excellence in photography, cartography and reporting was recognized with 63 nominations, resulting in 23

National Magazine Awards The National Magazine Awards, also known as the Ellie Awards, honor print and digital publications that consistently demonstrate superior execution of editorial objectives, innovative techniques, noteworthy enterprise and imaginative design. Or ...

from the

American Society of Magazine Editors The American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) is an industry trade group for magazine journalists and editors of magazines published in the United States. ASME includes the editorial leaders of most major consumer magazine in print and digital ex ...

. In 2008 Johns was named Magazine Editor of the Year and in 2011 ''National Geographic'' was named Magazine of the Year. Born in Medford,

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, Johns began his career in photojournalism when he joined the ''Topeka Capital-Journal'' as a staff photographer in 1975; in 1979 he was named National Newspaper Photographer of the Year. In 1983, after three years on the ''

Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington st ...

'' as a staff member, he embarked on a freelance career and worked for ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...

'', ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' and National Geographic magazines. Johns became a National Geographic contract photographer in 1985 and joined the magazine staff in 1995. Before taking over as ''National Geographic'''s editor-in-chief, Johns served as senior editor for illustrations and as associate editor. As a photographer, he produced more than 20 articles for ''National Geographic'', eight of which were cover stories. His defining images are of Africa and its wildlife. He has taken readers down the

Zambezi River The Zambezi River (also spelled Zambeze and Zambesi) is the fourth-longest river in Africa, the longest east-flowing river in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. Its drainage basin covers , slightly less than hal ...

, examined the

Bushmen The San peoples (also Saan), or Bushmen, are members of various Khoe, Tuu, or Kxʼa-speaking indigenous hunter-gatherer cultures that are the first cultures of Southern Africa, and whose territories span Botswana, Namibia, Angola, Zambia, ...

's ongoing struggle for cultural survival and provided important documentation of Africa's endangered wildlife. He was named one of the world's 25 most important photographers by ''American Photo'' magazine in 2003. Johns' books include ''Valley of Life: Africa's Great Rift'' (1991), ''Hawaii's Hidden Treasures'' (1993) and ''Wild at Heart: Man and Beast in Southern Africa'' (2002). The forward for ''Wild at Heart: Man and Beast in Southern Africa'' was written by

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...

. He wrote the foreword for ''In Focus: National Geographic Greatest Portraits'' (2004) and the introduction to the National Geographic book ''100 Days in Photographs: Pivotal Events That Changed the World'' (October 2007).

Education

Johns was awarded an honorary doctorate from

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

in 2010. He studied photojournalism at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

and holds a bachelor's degree in technical journalism with a minor in agriculture from

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering co ...

Personal life

He lives in the

Blue Ridge Mountains The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. The mountain range is located in the Eastern United States, and extends 550 miles southwest from southern Pennsylvania through Maryland, West Virgin ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

with his wife Elizabeth, his daughters Noel and Louise, and his son Tim.

References

External links

Bio at National Geographic
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johns, Chris 1951 births Living people National Geographic Society Oregon State University alumni People from Medford, Oregon University of Minnesota School of Journalism and Mass Communication alumni Photographers from Oregon National Geographic photographers