About Dr. Terry C. Johnson

Terry C. Johnson, the founder and first director of the Center for Basic Cancer Research, was born and raised in Minnesota. He received his B.S. at Hamline University, and his M.S. and Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota.

He became a professor of microbiology at Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago, before moving with his family to Manhattan, Kan., in 1977, to serve as professor and director of the Division of Biology at K-State, where he eventually earned a University Distinguished Professor and other prestigious awards.

Dr. Johnson founded the cancer center in 1980 by securing private and grant funds for an Anticancer Drug Discovery Laboratory. The center now has around 50 labs and hundreds of cancer researchers affiliated with it. Thousands of donors support its research and educational programs, and hundreds of scientists and students benefit from its educational, equipment, and travel awards every year.

Dr. Johnson passed away, ironically due to cancer, in October, 2002, but not before earning K-State (a university without a medical school) national recognition and respect for its excellent cancer research and education programs.