Gertrude I. Johnson (1876-1961) was a college-educated American

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

and co-founder of Johnson & Wales Business School.

Biography

Gertrude Irene Johnson was born in

Norristown, Pennsylvania Norristown is a municipality with home rule status and the county seat of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Montgomery County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the third-most populous county in Pennsylvania and the 7 ...

in 1876. She attended Pennsylvania State Normal School (now

Millersville University of Pennsylvania Millersville University of Pennsylvania (commonly known as Millersville University, The Ville, or MU) is a public university in Millersville, Pennsylvania. It is one of the fourteen schools that comprise the Pennsylvania State System of Higher E ...

) in Millersville, Pennsylvania, graduating 1895. After receiving a master's degree in 1897, Johnson taught in public schools, then worked in a bank for five years, before returning to teaching at Bryant and Stratton Business School in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

(now

Bryant University Bryant University is a private university in Smithfield, Rhode Island. It has two colleges, the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Business, and is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education. History Butler Exc ...

). It was there she teamed up with her old Pennsylvania Normal School classmate Mary T. Wales, who was also teaching at Bryant, to found their own business school.

School founder

In 1914, with fellow teacher Mary T. Wales, she co-founded Johnson & Wales Business School in

. It has grown into the present-day

Johnson & Wales University Johnson & Wales University (JWU) is a private university with its main campus in Providence, Rhode Island. Founded as a business school in 1914 by Gertrude I. Johnson and Mary T. Wales, JWU enrolled 7,357 students across its campuses in the fa ...

, with four campuses in the United States.

Retirement and death

With Mary in poor health, the two women sold the business school in June 1947 and retired together in

Warwick, Rhode Island Warwick ( or ) is a city in Kent County, Rhode Island, the third largest city in the state with a population of 82,823 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is located approximately south of downtown Providence, Rhode Island, sout ...

. Mary died of cancer in 1952. After Mary's death, Gertrude returned to her hometown of Norristown, Pennsylvania and died there in 1961.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Gertrude I. University and college founders Johnson & Wales University 1961 deaths Educators from Rhode Island People from Providence, Rhode Island People from Norristown, Pennsylvania 1876 births Millersville University of Pennsylvania alumni Educators from Pennsylvania American women educators