Memorial Resolution of the Faculty the University of Wisconsin
on the Death of Emeritus Professor Marvin J. Johnson
(Faculty Document 530; 12 September 1983)
Marvin Joyce Johnson, Emeritus Professor Biochemistry,
died October 1, 1982 at the age of 75. He was born November
25, 1906 in McIntosh, Minnesota, but he spent most of his
early years in Superior, Wisconsin. His B.S., M.S. and Ph.D.
degrees were awarded by the University of Wisconsin - Madison,
and in his graduate work he was associated with W.H. Peterson
and E.B. Fred. M.J. Johnson was awarded a National Research
Council Fellowship and spent the 1932-33 year in the laboratory
of Professor Waldschmidt-Leitz in Prague, Czechoslovakia
studying enzymology. There he met Gisela Hildegard Mueller
and they were married in 1934. Hilde worked with Marv in
his laboratory in Agricultural Hall and in Biochemistry
for a number of years and co-authored their research on
bacterial peptidases. Hilde, two children and five grandchildren
survive Marvin Johnson. Johnson became an assistant professor
in 1940, and was Professor of Biochemistry from 1946 until
be became Emeritus Professor in 1972.
Johnson was a marvelous teacher and a most versatile researcher.
His curiosity knew no bounds, and he had a mind that devoured
basic information and then assembled it into logical combinations.
He saved time by reasoning from basic facts rather than
going to the literature for the opinion of someone else.
Johnson dramatized points so that students did not forget
them. His lectures were based on the concept that he was
there to transmit information understandably rather than
being there to demonstrate his own erudition. He taught
courses in the biochemistry of microorganisms, enzymology
(taught with C.A. Elvehjem and later with Henry Lardy) and
laboratories in fermentation biochemistry and in chromatography.
Thermodynamics was a subject that professors and students
alike found difficult. Johnson was invited to write a chapter
on this subject for the second edition of "The Enzymes,"
and he treated thermodynamics in such a way t a novice could
understand and enjoy it; that chapter remains a classic
reference many years later.
Many graduates of the Wisconsin biochemistry department
will testify that Marv's lab courses were the greatest they
ever took. His laboratory experiments emphasized clarity
and simplicity in the presentation of principles. He felt
that a complex push-button, microprocessor-controlled instrument
was more likely to obfuscate than to illuminate an idea.
Marv designed many ingenious gadgets, and one found them
scattered in laboratories throughout the campus. All commercial
autoclavable oxygen electrodes seem to be copies of his
design. In developing an electronic gadget Marv considered
it completely improper to consult a wiring diagram in the
literature; instead he designed logically from "scratch"
to produce the simplest unit that would do the job.
After retiring early because of heart trouble, Marv and
Hilde spent their summers at Plummer Lake in Vilas County
and their winters in Mazatlan, Mexico. On the beaches, he
tried out new kite designs. Again the game was to develop
them from "scratch" unfettered by earlier designs.
Johnson's dowel-framed, light plastic-covered kites would
fly virtually vertically overhead in a light breeze. His
self-designed sundial at Plummer Lake checked electronic
watches to the minute with aid of his charts.
M.J. Johnson's mind worked so rapidly and unceasingly and
he was so penetrating in his quizzing, that he frightened
some people. His examination questions exhibited ingenious
ways to seek whether a student knew the facts, and more
important knew how to reason from these facts. Not all students
went out of their way to have Marv on their exams, but everyone
respected him and recognized that he always was fair even
though he was demanding.
M.J. Johnson's honest and integrity were absolute. He probably
was better informed on the penicillin fermentation than
any of his contemporaries, and he certainly had more ideas
on how to solve problems in industry than anyone else. As
a result, Marv was in great demand as a consultant in the
fermentation industry. His students have been in positions
of importance in virtually every penicillin plant in the
country, and they all recognize that if there was a problem
Marv probably could develop a solution. Johnson felt that
the University of Wisconsin was paying him a living wage,
hence it was somehow improper for him to use consulting
fees himself. So he always deposited his fees with the University
of Wisconsin Foundation where they could be tapped for useful
items for the department. At one time it was impossible
to buy an electric typewriter with university funds, so
the Johnson funds bought the first one in the Biochemistry
Department. Copying machines were not considered important
enough to warrant a purchase order, so he bought the department's
first Ozalid copier. This was not to say that he condoned
the indiscriminate copying rampant currently; he was quoted
as saying "Xerox is a mechanism for asexual reproduction
of sterile material."
Marv Johnson was a very fine scientist. His work on the
peptidases of micro-organisms was outstanding. He designed
a number of elegant and simple analytical method that made
his papers among the most quoted of their day. His 1941
paper in the journal Science clarified the role of aerobic
phosphorylation in the Pasteur effect. Perhaps his outstanding
contribution was his aid in establishing how penicillin
was produced by molds. This was a group war effort on campus
in collaboration with many other universities and industrial
laboratories off campus, but Marv certainly was one the
most important contributors. The program was successful
and took penicillin production from one to well above 1,000
Oxford units per ml and dropped its price from $20/100,000
units to 3¢/100,000 units in a relatively short time.
Johnson published about 150 papers and trained about 70
students who received advanced degrees.
Johnson's work won recognition among microbiologists, and
the American Chemical Society section on Microbial Chemistry
awarded Marv its Distinguished Service Award in 1968, and
in 1979 established the annual Marvin J. Johnson Award for
outstanding and original work in the field of microbial
and biochemical technology. The University has established
a M.J. Johnson professorship in the Biochemistry Department.
From 1962 to 1966 he twice served as chairman and was president
of the section on Economic and Applied Microbiology of the
International Association of Microbiological Societies.
However, Marv Johnson simply was not interested in becoming
a scientific hero. He had no lust for power or desire to
win a Nobel prize or become an administrator. He spent little
time in Washington or on the lecture circuit. If anyone
ever "hid his light under a bushel" it was Marv
Johnson. He gave his advice freely and wanted no recognition
for it. There still were too many exciting new ideas to
think of and develop to be encumbered by some idea he already
had initiated and someone else was exploiting. He was a
curious kid at heart, and wanted to remain as unfettered
as this world permits.
Marv Johnson had great facility with the English language.
Occasionally he would be inspired to compose a poem, and
he did this with ease. Unfortunately the spirit didn't move
him very often, but the Yellow Cardinal published anonymously
in Bacteriology for the annual picnic, and Christmas in
the Biochemistry office furnished inspiration. The Memorial
Committee likes the poem dedicated to Anne Terrio, long-time
departmental administrative assistant.
Anne must be older than she appears
They say she's been here forty years
A time too short, as she knows well
To teach professors how to spell.
When Ann arrived she played it smart,
Avoiding labor's fetters;
She typed for old Professor Hart
Who never answered letters.
Alas! Each year our science
Grows ever more verbose
Until poor Anne's clients
May drown in cellulose.
She does our manuscripts in turn.
(This sometimes keeps us waiting)
To keep them straight she had to learn
Techniques of carbon dating.
The paper tide cannot be stemmed;
Let's return to the state medieval,
Let written papers be condemned,
Stamp out information retrieval!
We have other gems in the file, but to keep it short we
will give only one other poem by Marv:
Once upon a time I blamed on fate
The fact that I am bland and placid
But now I put the onus on
Deoxyribonucleic acid.
Marv was not bland and placid, and we wish that many more
inherited his type of deoxyribonucleic acid.
Memorial Committee:
- Thomas D. Brock
- Robert H. Burris, Chairman
- W. Wallace Cleland
- William G. Hoekstra
- Henry A. Lardy
- David L. Nelson
- Joe B. Wilson
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