Charles Ellicott Johnson (1920-1969), accountant and university administrator, was born on September 7, 1920 in Worland, Wyoming. He graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1942 with a degree in accounting and business administration. After serving in World War II, he returned to the University of Minnesota to earn his MBA in 1948 and his PhD in 1952. Johnson came to the University of Oregon in 1952 as an Associate Professor in Business Administration and became a full Professor in 1957. In 1959, he was appointed as Head of the Department of Accounting and Business Statistics, and then became Dean of the College of Liberal Arts in 1963. Johnson was appointed as Acting President of the University of Oregon in 1968.
Johnson’s presidency was defined by several controversies, including the grape boycott in the dormitories to protest farming and labor conditions, the athletes who were disciplined for refusing to cut their hair, and the obscenities printed in the Emerald. During his tenure, Navy recruiters were harassed by activists, a shanty town was set up on the campus lawn, and there were numerous protests over the Vietnam War, civil rights, and freedoms. Charles E. Johnson was killed in an automobile accident on June 17, 1969. Ken Metzler’s book, Confrontation: The Destruction of a College President, published in 1973, investigated the circumstances surrounding Johnson’s death, particularly Johnson’s psychological state at the time of the accident.
After the death of Charles E. Johnson, N. Ray Hawk filled the position of Acting President for the remainder of the year. Hawk was born on April 14, 1918 in Butte Falls, Oregon. After serving in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II, he received his master’s degree in history from the University of Oregon in 1947 and his doctorate in education in 1949. Ray Hawk was appointed Dean of Men at the University of Oregon in 1950 and served until 1964. His subsequent positions included: Assistant to the University President, Dean of Administration, Acting President in 1969, and Vice President for Administration and Finance from 1971 until his retirement in 1983. N. Ray Hawk passed away on May 27, 2006.
From the guide to the Office of the President: Charles Ellicott Johnson / N. Ray Hawk records, 1968-1969, (Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries)
