RISE 2019 Conference

Dr. Kristina M. Johnson joined The State University of New York as its 13th Chancellor in September 2017. With 64 college and university campuses located within 30 miles of every home, school, and business in the state, SUNY is the nation’s largest comprehensive system of public higher education. It serves more than 1.3 million students annually, employs more than 90,000 faculty and staff, and connects more than three million alumni around the world. Immediately prior to joining SUNY, Dr. Johnson was co-founder and CEO of Cube Hydro Partners, LLC, a clean-energy infrastructure company focused on building and operating hydropower plants in North America. Dr. Johnson grew the company from one plant to 19 plants on 10 rivers in five eastern states—enough to power 150,000 homes with clean energy. Prior to Cube Hydro, Dr. Johnson served as Under Secretary of Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy. As Under Secretary, she was responsible for unifying and managing a broad $10.5 billion energy and environment portfolio, including an additional $37 billion in energy and environment investments from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. Dr. Johnson is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Inventors. She was inducted into the Women in Technology International Hall of Fame (2003) and the National Inventors Hall of Fame (2015). Dr. Johnson holds 118 U.S. and international patents, has published 149 referenced papers and proceedings, and has received honorary degrees from University of Alabama at Huntsville; Tufts University; McGill University; Trinity College, Dublin; and National University of Ireland, Galway. She is also a fellow of the Optical Society of America, International Electronics and Electrical Engineering (IEEE), the International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE), and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Dr. Johnson received her B.S. with distinction, M.S. and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Stanford University.