Preston Johnson, Jr., earned his
Bachelor of Business Administration
degree in accounting in 1977.
He received his Master of Business
Administration degree in industrial
management from the University
of Houston in 1983.
Working in six different positions
for the Dow Chemical Company from
1977 until 2000, Johnson was a
key principal in the global transformation
of the company to increase productivity,
provided business alignment, eliminated
hierarchy leadership and created
a sustainable competitive advantage
for Dow globally.
Under his direction at Dow, the
total workforce moved from 62,800
at the end of 1992 to 42,800 today,
and management layers decreased
from 13 to a maximum of six, with
80 percent of the total organization
realigned from functional to a
global business model.
"Preston Johnson, while global
director of human resources
for Dow Chemical Co., was responsible
for directing hundreds of thousands
of dollars from Dow to SHSU
for university development,"
his nomination form said. "The
Dow Room at COBA was spearheaded
by Preston Johnson, Arnold Allemang,
and Gary Whitlock."
In March 2000, Johnson joined
CenterPoint Energy Inc., where
he is the senior vice president
of human resources and shared
services. There, he is responsible
for directing all human resources
and shared services activities
at the corporate level and throughout
its various business units,
such as Houston Electric, Gas
Distribution & Sales, and
Interstate Pipelines & Gathering
Systems.
"Since joining CenterPoint
Energy/Reliant Energy, he has
directed thousands to the School
of Business and established
a recruiting program at SHSU
on behalf of CenterPoint and
Reliant Energy," the form said.
As a student at SHSU, Johnson
was the founding president of
the Iota Sigma chapter of Alpha
Kappa Psi Fraternity. He is
now on the School of Business
advisory board, a member of
the President's Council, an
honorary member of Beta Gamma
Sigma, a lifetime member of
the Alumni Association and has
established the Johnson/Perkins
Endowment Fund.
Johnson and his wife Joslen
reside in Sugarland with their
two children, Sean,13, and Alexis,
9.
As profiled
at the November 7, 2003 Distinguished
Alumni Banquet
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