Commencement Speaker Profile

John A. Johnson was born and reared in Puerto Rico. In April 1981, Johnson served in the Signal Corps, U.S. Army until April 1984. His military service included a tour in Korea. In May 1987, he graduated from Baylor University, Waco, Texas and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Foreign Service with a concentration in Latin American studies. In March 1999, Johnson was awarded the designation of Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) for his proven expertise in detecting and investigating White Collar Crime.

Johnson was appointed as a Special Agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in May 1988, and following a training period was assigned to the San Francisco Field Office. His investigative assignments included Violent Crime, Counterintelligence and Counterterrorism. In July 1992, he was transferred to the San Juan Field Office and assigned to work Counterintelligence and White Collar Crime (WCC) matters. Johnson was promoted to Supervisory Special Agent of the WCC Squad and also assumed WCC Program Coordinator responsibilities in May 1997. He spearheaded a public corruption initiative in June 1998, which resulted in the creation of the first Public Corruption Squad in the field office. In January 1999, he was designated as the Supervisor of the new Public Corruption Squad. He supervised multiple successful cases targeting corrupt public officials, including prominent Puerto Rican legislators, mayors, governor's executive staff and other high-level officials. In May 2000, Johnson was designated as Supervisory Senior Resident Agent of the Ponce Resident Agency, San Juan Field Office, where he supervised a successful undercover operation that resulted in the prosecution of 23 police officers involved in a complex case-fixing scheme.

Johnson was designated as Assistant Legal Attaché (ALAT), Panama City, Panama, in September 2001 and reported for duty in January 2002. As ALAT, he had liaison responsibilities for Panama and six countries in Central America.

In November 2003, Johnson was promoted to Unit Chief, Undercover and Sensitive Operations Unit, Criminal Investigative Division, FBI Headquarters, Washington, D.C., and reported for duty in March 2004. Under his leadership, the FBI unified its undercover certification course. He was designated as Unit Chief, Civil Rights Unit, in February 2005, where he implemented significant program improvements that reduced administrative paperwork by 80 percent, and transformed the FBI's Civil Rights Program. These changes were the most significant in 26 years and have energized the program for future success.

Johnson, who is married and has two daughters, was designated Assistant Special Agent in Charge (ASAC), McAllen Resident Agency, San Antonio Field Office, in September 2005 and reported for duty in January 2006. As ASAC, he has program responsibilities for the Gangs/Criminal Enterprise, and Organized Crime investigative programs, as well as administrative and operational oversight for the Rio Grande Valley Resident Agencies (RGVRA) located in Brownsville, McAllen, and Laredo. Under his leadership, the RGVRAs have focused significant investigative efforts on counterterrorism, public corruption, drug trafficking, and violent crimes threats along the United States/Mexico border.