Kristina M. Johnson (Co-Chair)

President, The Ohio State University

Dr. Kristina M. Johnson is president of The Ohio State University. During her extensive career as a leader in academia, business and government, she has also served as chancellor of the State University System of New York, co-founder and CEO of hydropower company Cube Hydro Partners, undersecretary of energy at the U.S. Department of Energy and provost of Johns Hopkins University, among many other roles.

A distinguished innovator, President Johnson holds more than 100 U.S. and international patents and is the author of 149 refereed papers and proceedings. Her pioneering work in microdisplays and color-polarizing at the University of Colorado Boulder was spun off into several companies and earned her recognition from the National Inventors Hall of Fame as well as the John Fritz Medal — widely regarded as the “Nobel Prize” in engineering.

The recipient of numerous awards and recognitions, Dr. Johnson is also a member of several professional societies, including the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Inventors and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Dr. Johnson earned her BS, MS and PhD in electrical engineering at Stanford University, where she was a varsity athlete in field hockey and founded the club varsity lacrosse team.