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 the title of University Distinguished Professor and other prestigious awards.

Dr. Johnson founded the Center for Basic Cancer Research in 1980 by securing private and grant funds for an Anticancer Drug Discovery Laboratory. The center now serves as a hub to around 70 faculty researchers in 12 departments, offering hundreds of thousands of dollars in research and educational support to them and their students every year. Thousands of private contributors make the center’s innovative research, education, equipment, and travel award programs possible.

Dr. Johnson passed away from 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.