Emory Richard Johnson

Emory Richard Johnson (March 22, 1864 – March 8, 1950) was an American economist who pioneered transportation studies in the United States. He was professor of transportation and commerce at the University of Pennsylvania and served as dean of the Wharton School from 1919 to 1933. He was a member of the Isthmian Canal Commission from 1899 to 1904 and was instrumental in the design of tolls for ships using the Panama Canal.

He was editor of the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science from 1901 to 1914, published multiple books on the economics of transportation, and received the gold medal of honor from the National Institute of Social Sciences in 1923.

Early life and education Johnson was born March 22, 1864, in Waupun, Wisconsin, to Eli and Angeline (Nicholas) Johnson. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1888 and the University of Pennsylvania in 1893. He studied in Germany and received his Doctor of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees from the University of Pennsylvania in 1913. He was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa society and the Sigma Chi fraternity. In 1889, he served as an expert on transportation on the Industrial Commission; on valuation of railway property for the United States Census Bureau from 1904 to 1905; and on traffic on the National Waterways Commission of 1909. He served as dean of the Wharton School from 1919 to 1933.

He was a member of the Isthmian Canal Commission from 1899 to 1904. He was a member of the American Economic Association, the Cosmos Club, the National Geographic Society, and the Union League of Philadelphia.

In 1926 he travelled to China; in Shandong he met the 6-year-old Duke Yansheng Kung Te-cheng, 77th generation descendant of Confucius, and invited him to attend the University of Pennsylvania. He died in Philadelphia on March 8, 1950, and was interred at West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.

Publications

Inland Waterways, Their Relation to Transportation, Philadelphia: American Academy of Political and Social Science, 1893 American Railway Transportation, New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1903 Ocean and Inland Transportation, New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1906 Elements of Transportation, New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1909 Railroad Traffic and Rates, New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1911 Panama Canal Traffic and Tolls, Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1912 Measurement of Vessels for the Panama Canal, Washington, D.C.; Government Printing Office, 1913 History of Domestic and Foreign Commerce in the United States, Washington, D.C.; Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1915 The Panama Canal and Commerce, New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1916 Principles of Railroad Transportation, New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1916 Principles of Ocean Transportation, New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1918 Transportation in the United States, Chicago: LaSalle Extension University, 1919 Principles of Transportation, New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1929