Vivian Johnson

Vivian Annabelle Johnson (1912–1985) was an American physicist, professor at Purdue University and researcher in theoretical solid state physics. She worked to improve educational opportunities and the status of women.

Biography Vivian Annabelle Johnson was born July 1, 1912 in Portland, Oregon to Albert Johnson and Ada Stanley. She studied chemistry and mathematics at Washington High School and earned her B.A. in Physics from Reed College in Portland, Oregon in 1932. There, through her contacts, she was able to obtain a graduate assistantship at Purdue working for physicist Karl Lark-Horovitz who became her mentor.

She earned her master's degree at Purdue in 1934. In 1937, she worked with Lothar Wolfgang Nordheim to complete her PhD dissertation titled, the Effect of Valence Electrons on the Electron Cloud Distribution. Her early research contributed to the then-newly developing field of solid state physics. In an interview she said she "went into solid state before the field was recognized by that name." and at Purdue.

Honors and awards

1973: Standard Oil Foundation Teaching Award 1979: Helen B Schleman Gold Medallion Award

Memberships According to American Institute of Physics, she was a member of numerous organizations.

Sigma Xi Sigma Pi Sigma Indiana Academy of Sciences Phi Beta Kappa American Association of University Professors

Selected publications She published many articles describing the transport properties of semiconductors. Karl Lark-Horovitz, Vivian Annabelle Johnson, Methods of experimental physics: Solid state physics, Academic Press, 1959 Johnson, Vivian Annabelle. Men of physics: Karl Lark-Horovitz: pioneer in solid state physics. Elsevier, 2013. Johnson, Vivian Annabelle. "The Distortion of the Atomic Charge Distribution in Zinc Oxide and Its Effect Upon Electron Diffraction Intensities." PhD diss., Purdue University, 1937.