David Willis Johnson (7 August 1932 – June 19, 2016) was an Australian-American

company director A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

, who as President and CEO led the

Campbell Soup Company Campbell Soup Company, trade name, doing business as Campbell's, is an American processed food and snack company. The company is most closely associated with its flagship canned soup products; however, through mergers and acquisitions, it has gro ...

from 1990 until 1997 and then again from March 2000 to January 2001. He was also the CEO of Gerber, the president of Entenmanns, and on the Board of Directors for Colgate Palmolive.

Early life and education

Johnson was born in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

and grew up near

Tumut Tumut () is a town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia, situated on the banks of the Tumut River. Tumut sits on the north-west foothills of the Snowy Mountains and is located on the traditional lands of the Wiradjuri, Wolgalu ...

in the

Snowy Mountains The Snowy Mountains, known informally as "The Snowies", is an IBRA subregion in southern New South Wales, Australia, and is the tallest mountain range in mainland Australia, being part of the continent's Great Dividing Range cordillera system ...

. From the family farm he rode to the one room Lacmalac Public School for his primary education. He attended

Newington College , motto_translation = To Faith Add Knowledge , location = Inner West and Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales , country = Australia , coordinates = , pushpin_map = A ...

(1947-1950) and was Senior Boarder Prefect and captained the 1st XV rugby and 1st XI cricket. He continued his sporting career at

Wesley College, University of Sydney Wesley College is a co-residential college of 265 students within the University of Sydney. The college occupies a site on the main campus of the University of Sydney and was built on a sub-grant of Crown land. Wesley is one of six on-campus co ...

, where he captained the rugby, athletics and cricket teams, was Senior Student, and won a University rowing

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when obs ...

. He graduated in

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

in 1954 and received a

Diploma of Education The Diploma of Education, often abbreviated to DipEd or GradDipEd, is a postgraduate qualification offered in many Commonwealth countries including Australia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Overview The diploma can build on the ...

the following year. In 1958 he received an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

Business career

He began his business career as an executive trainee for the

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

Geelong, Victoria Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, a ...

, where he won a Rotary Foundation Fellowship to study at the University of Chicago. In 1959, he became a management trainee at

Colgate-Palmolive Colgate-Palmolive Company is an American multinational consumer products company headquartered on Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The company specializes in the production, distribution, and provision of household, health car ...

International in Australia, and, in 1967, became Chairman and Managing Director of its South African operation. In 1973, he went to Hong Kong as President of Warner-Lambert/Park Davis Asia, and, in 1976, he moved to the United States as President of two successive divisions within that company. In 1979, he became head of

Entenmann's Entenmann's is an American company that manufactures baked goods and delivers them throughout the United States to supermarkets and other retailers for sale to the public. The company offers dessert cakes, donuts, cookies, cup cakes, loaf cakes, ...

Inc., and continued as President and CEO when it was acquired by General Foods in 1982. During his leadership of this Company, sales and profits quadrupled, and when, in 1987, he was named Chairman, President and CEO of Gerber Products, earnings grew at an annual rate of more than 50 per cent. In 1990, Johnson joined

as President and CEO and retired from the company in 1997. Under his leadership, the Company's value increased by an average of 23 per cent a year. In 1997, Johnson was named the Director of the Year in the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

Death

Johnson died June 19, 2016, in

Doylestown, Pennsylvania Doylestown is a borough and the county seat of Bucks County in Pennsylvania, United States. It is located northwest of Trenton, north of Center City, Philadelphia, southeast of Allentown, and southwest of New York City. As of the 2020 cen ...

. He was 83.Former Campbell Soup CEO dies
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, David 1932 births 2016 deaths American businesspeople Australian emigrants to the United States People educated at Newington College University of Chicago alumni University of Sydney alumni