Dr. B. F. Johnson came to Southeast in 1897 just as Southeast’s fifth President William Duncan Vandiver, ended his tenure to pursue a career in politics. Working as Chair of the Department of Mathematics, Johnson was its “lone professor” until his retirement in 1940 – a career spanning 43 years!
Just by taking a walk around campus, it is easy to spot Johnson’s influence. The Johnson Faculty Center is located at 530 N. Pacific St. This was the private residence of the Johnson family until 1961, when the University purchased the home from Johnson’s daughter Mary Johnson Tweedy for $26,000 under the condition that “it was to be used as a faculty house for events and lodging and be named in her father's honor.” To that end, the 1908 American Foursquare residence has been home to retirement parties, the Center for Regional History, and other campus events over the years. Today, the Johnson Faculty Center serves as a “meeting place and as accommodations for visiting faculty or other guests.”
Aside from this endeavor, Mary Johnson Tweedy was a major benefactor for the addition and expansion of the mathematics building, which was fittingly renamed the B. F. Johnson Hall of Mathematics and Computer Science upon its opening in October 1982. Today, faculty within the department yield expertise in a wide variety of disciplines like actuarial science, combinatorics, and topology. A far cry from Dr. B. F. Johnson’s one-man operation 126 years ago.
