Dr. Paula A. Johnson

University president and cardiologist Dr. Paula A. Johnson was born in New York City to Grayce Young Johnson and Edward Johnson on September 24, 1959. Johnson received her B.A. degree cum laude in biology with a minor in history from Harvard University’s Radcliffe College in 1980, her M.D. degree from Harvard Medical School in 1985, and her M.P.H. degree from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in 1985.

In 1985, Johnson joined Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts as a medical resident. In 1990, Johnson became an instructor for Harvard Medical School, a role she held for ten years. Johnson was promoted to assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School in 1997, associate professor in 2003, and then professor of medicine in 2013. She became the Grayce A. Young Family professor of medicine in women's health at Harvard Medical School in 2015. In 1992, Johnson was hired as a clinical epidemiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She also served as the medical director for quality improvement in the Department of Quality Management Services at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital from 1995 to 2002. Johnson founded and served as director of the Center for Cardiovascular Disease in Women at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School as well as the Mary Horrigan Connors Center for Women’s Health and Gender Biology. In 2016, Johnson became a professor of women’s health studies and the first African American president and 14th president of Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts.

As a committed civic leader, Johnson served on numerous boards including the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the Center for Reproductive Rights, the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum, and the Museum of Science, Boston. Johnson also served as vice chair of the Harvard Medical School Alumni Association, was a member of the National Academy of Medicine, and was appointed to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences' Commission on Investment Imperatives for a Healthy Nation.

Johnson received numerous awards and honors including the Excellence in Women’s Health Award from the Jacobs Institute for Women’s Health at George Washington University in 2007, an induction into the International Women’s Forum Hall of Fame in 2015, the Walker Prize from the Museum of Science, Boston, in 2016, the Alma Dea Maran, MD Renaissance Woman Award from the Foundation for the History of Women in Medicine in 2016, the Wainwright Social Justice Award from Eastern Bank in 2018, a feature on The Boston Business Journal’s “Power 50” list in 2020, a feature on the Commonwealth Institute’s “Top 100 Women-Led Businesses” list in 2020, the Alumni Award of Merit from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in 2021, and the Harvard Medal in 2023. Johnson also received honorary degrees from Russell Sage College in 2016, Simmons College in 2016, the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in 2018, the UMass Chan Medical School in 2022, and Princeton University in 2024.

Dr. Paula A. Johnson was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on March 3, 2023.