Field of Expertise:
Mechanical Engineering

Did You Know?
Johnson would take his managers on weeklong canoe trips into the Boundary Waters as a fun, playful bonding experience. It was his way to get to know people and find out how they'd react under different circumstances. Sometimes he'd bring his sales representatives from other parts of the country and they loved it. Many had never experienced wilderness, and never seen the Northern Lights.

In His Own Words:
"The biggest thing I have learned about change is that it's important to embrace it and set goals for getting things done. Then have a commitment to goals rather than just letting things happen to you. The companies and individuals who have the most trouble are those who have resisted change. It's amazing what we can do with a few plans, moderate experience, and little resources when we make a commitment. For example, I didn't have any idea of what to do to save the Boundary Waters. I just started calling people. The Friends of the Boundary Water Wilderness group had a very common goal, a lot of trust in the group, and a sense of urgency. People just did what fit for them and what they saw would contribute to the larger goal. It was a very fluid organization. The executive committee would identify things that had to get done and someone would say, 'I'll do that.' Some of the professionals in the major environmental organizations in Washington, D.C. told us, after it was over, that we had the best organized, most effective campaign they had ever seen."

 

 

 

 

Herbert C. Johnson:
How he has transformed the scene

The Business of the Planet: Doing the right thing
Every camper, explorer and canoeist who experiences the pristine beauty of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) owes his or her thanks in part to one man who helped save the million-acre wilderness from destruction. Herb Johnson was an entrepreneur and engineer whose greatest passion was protecting the environment. In 1975, a legislator put a bill in Congress that would have opened the BWCA to motorized vehicles. Johnson was outraged and helped form a small group called Friends of the Boundary Waters. After years of work, they succeeded in blocking the bill.

Those who love technology are often regarded as adversaries of the environment, but Johnson was one of the pioneers who integrated his love of nature with his love of technology and innovation.

Johnson started his engineering career in 1953 at Research Inc. In 1963, he became the first president of MTS Systems in Eden Prairie, a firm that specialized in testing parts. He later became president of DataMyte Inc. in 1976. While growing both companies into world-class leaders, he initiated sound environmental practices — which was especially unusual for that era. At MTS, for example, they machined steel, brass and aluminum, and separated their waste for re-sale to salvage companies. They used water-soluble solvents, rather than the more common CVC material found to destroy the ozone layer. At DataMyte, they took the lead out of their soldering machines and recycled it. Johnson prided his companies on producing less scrap, monitoring their processes for harmful effects and looking for all manner of waste. He called it an entrepreneur's dream: finding ways to be inventive to protect the environment.

High Tech, High Touch
In addition to the Friends of the Boundary Waters, Johnson's passions led him to the Minnesota High Technology Corridor Corp., the Citizens League, the High Technology Council, Wilderness Inquiry and the Sierra Club, among others. He became a master of the letter to the editor, writing dozens and dozens of letters that were published in Twin Cities' newspapers. He was a tall, friendly man with a big mustache. He smoked a pipe, liked to read and travel, and became a fixture at the state capitol after his success with the Boundary Waters legislation. Although he didn't attend the University of Minnesota, he was a big supporter, and his lobbying efforts led to the investment of a new mechanical engineering building on campus. Johnson always referred to himself as high tech — devoted to using technology to improve business – and high touch — he valued the peace and beauty found only in the wilderness.

His early years
Johnson developed a love of nature at a young age, fishing alongside his dad on the Mississippi. After high school, he enlisted in the navy and saw the purity of nature firsthand on islands in the South Pacific. He became part of the first public nuclear bomb tests on Bikini Atoll after World War II. Stationed in Chicago, he met his future wife at a dance in a Chicago ballroom. After the war, Johnson married and earned an engineering degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder. He and his wife returned to Minnesota in the 1950s and had one daughter. After suffering a life-changing stroke in 1993, Johnson died at age 89 in 2011.