Richard St Clair Johnson (6 June 1929 – 31 August 2019) was a former academic and senior Australian public servant.

Background and early life

Dick Johnson was born in Singapore, one of four children born to Australian parents. His father worked in the insurance industry in Asia. He attended secondary schooling at the Jesuit Riverview College. In 1946 Johnson began a double honours degree in Greek and Latin 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 ...

Career

Johnson was Professor of Classics at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...

from 1962 to 1984. In his first year in the role, he established the Australian National University Classics Museum so that Canberra students could learn about ancient Greek and Roman objects. In April 1984, Johnson was appointed

Secretary A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a w ...

of the

Department of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

(later, Education and Youth Affairs). He left his role in January 1985, succeeded by Helen Williams, the first woman to become a departmental secretary in the Australian Government.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Dick Secretaries of the Australian Government Education Department 1929 births 2019 deaths