Johnson, De

Biography

Dr. De (Diana) Johnson was born in Corpus Christi, Texas in 1941. She earned her BA at North Texas State University (1965) and both her MA (1973) and PhD (1980) at The University of Texas at Austin.

Johnson came to Southwest Texas State University in 1973. She founded the Student Learning Assistance Center (SLAC) that very year, where she served as director from 1973–1986. Johnson was appointed Assistant Dean of General Studies when the College was created in 1983, later becoming Associate Dean in 1985. She became Acting Dean of the College of General Studies in 1986.

Johnson published a number of articles on learning strategies and learning centers, and she received the Outstanding Developmental Educator of the Year Award from the Texas Association of Developmental Education in 1986. 

Texas 150 Oral History

Dr. Johnson shares her family's history in Texas and her experience attending graduate school at The University of Texas at Austin. She explains how her education background and teaching experiences at private business colleges in Austin led to her employment at Southwest Texas State University in the 1970s. She describes her time working in the university's counseling center and teaching psychology courses. Johnson outlines the creation of Student Learning Assistance Center (SLAC) and the resources she's developed to help university students effectively learn, and she predicts what SLAC will be like in the future.