CEO of Chicago History Museum Named to CTS Board of Trustees

CHICAGO- March 4, 2019 – Chicago Theological Seminary’s (CTS) Board of Trustees welcomed its newest member, Gary T. Johnson, President of the Chicago History Museum at the February 7-8 meeting.

“I am humbled to know that I can help out in preparing leaders for the next,” Johnson said. “I am impressed that Chicago’s oldest institution of higher learning has its eyes on the future.  I am the president of the Chicago History Museum — one year younger than CTS, and Chicago’s oldest museum.  Our museum, too, has reinvented itself to be forward-looking.  The church has been an important part of my whole life, and I am excited about giving back.”

“To say we’re excited to have Gary on our board is an understatement,” said board chair Brian Clarke. “Gary has significant experience and a host of relevant skills that will enhance CTS’s board and help shape the seminary’s future.”

Gary T. Johnson was named the eighth president of the Chicago History Museum in August 2005. Johnson’s leadership focuses on community outreach and strengthening the institution’s capacity to serve its mission of sharing Chicago’s stories. Johnson came to the Museum after 28 years as a lawyer and partner in the Chicago offices of two global law firms, Mayer Brown and Jones Day. Johnson is admitted to practice law in Illinois and New York and as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales. As a solicitor, he also is a member of the Law Society of England and Wales. His practice focused primarily on international matters and included extensive work in Europe, Latin America, and Asia.

Johnson is a member of the American Law Institute and a Life Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and the Illinois State Bar Association Foundation. He was president of the Chicago Council of Lawyers from 1981 to 1983. Among his civic commitments in Chicago, he is a long-time member of the Radio Committee of WFMT, which oversees Chicago’s classical music station 98.7 WFMT.

Johnson also serves on the leadership team of Museums in the Park, the association of eleven of Chicago’s major museums where he leads their Museums Work for Chicago campaign comprising fifteen area cultural institutions. Johnson has a record of leadership in the civic arena, particularly in civil rights. During the 1980s, Johnson served as vice chair of the Special Commission on the Administration of Justice in Cook County, as well as several other commissions, where he was the author of a series of commission reports on judicial conduct and ethics.

Johnson received his juris doctorate at Harvard Law School, a master’s degree in modern history from Oxford University, and a bachelor’s degree in history and political science from Yale College.