G. Timothy Johnson (born July 9, 1936) is an American

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

, physician, retired television journalist, and writer who, as "Dr. Tim Johnson", is known to television viewers as the longtime Chief Medical Correspondent for ''

ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...

'' on the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

television network.

Education

Johnson received his undergraduate degree from Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, where he earned ''

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

'' honors. In 1963, he graduated from

North Park Theological Seminary North Park Theological Seminary is a seminary located in the North Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. It is the sole graduate theological school of the Evangelical Covenant Church. History In 1891, the school was founded by the Evangelical ...

in Chicago, Illinois and became an

ordained minister In Christianity, a minister is a person authorised by a church or other religious organization to perform functions such as teaching of beliefs; leading services such as weddings, baptisms or funerals; or otherwise providing spiritual guidance ...

with the

Evangelical Covenant Church The Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC) is an evangelical denomination with Pietism, Pietist Lutheran roots. The Christian denomination, denomination has 129,015 members in 878 congregations and an average worship attendance of 219,000 people in th ...

. After two years in the ministry, he entered medical school and graduated ''

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

'' from

Albany Medical College Albany Medical College (AMC) is a Private university, private medical school in Albany, New York. It was founded in 1839 by Alden March and James H. Armsby and is one of the oldest medical schools in the nation. The college is part of the Albany Me ...

in Albany, New York, and subsequently received a master's degree in

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the de ...

from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, Massachusetts.

Medical career

For many years he has been a member of the faculty of the

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...

at Harvard University and on the staff of

Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is a teaching hospital located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the original and largest clinical education and research facility of Harvard Medical School/Harvar ...

, a

teaching hospital A teaching hospital or university hospital is a hospital or medical center that provides medical education and training to future and current health professionals. Teaching hospitals are almost always affiliated with one or more universities a ...

of the Harvard Medical School and a

biomedical research Medical research (or biomedical research), also known as health research, refers to the process of using scientific methods with the aim to produce knowledge about human diseases, the prevention and treatment of illness, and the promotion of ...

facility in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, Massachusetts.

Television career

Early television career

Johnson started his television career in the 1970s at WRGB-TV in Schenectady, NY while at Albany Medical Center. He moved to Boston in 1972 and became a charter staffer at newly-signed-on WCVB-Channel 5's ''Sunday Open House'' with a live, weekly segment interviewing other medical professionals about current medical issues. He also hosted "House Call", a half-hour weekly series on answering health-related questions from viewers and interviewing doctors and nurses on various health topics. The show was popular and won WCVB-TV an Emmy. He later became host of HealthBeat, a national health TV magazine program, from 1982 to 1984.

''ABC News''

In 1975, he joined ''ABC News'' as the medical reporter, and later became the "Medical Editor" of ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...

'' (GMA), ''ABC News'''s morning-news-and-talk program upon its

première A premiere, also spelled première, (from , ) is the wikt:debut, debut (first public presentation) of a work, i.e. Play (theatre), play, film, dance, musical composition, or even a Performing arts#Performers, performer in that work. History R ...

on November 3, 1975. In over three decades at ''ABC News'', he has reported for their various programs including '' World News Tonight'', a daily evening-news program; ''

Nightline ''Nightline'' (or ''ABC News Nightline'') is ABC News (United States), ABC News' Late night television in the United States, late-night television news program broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC in the United States with a franchis ...

'', a late-night hard and soft news program; ''

20/20 Visual acuity (VA) commonly refers to the clarity of visual perception, vision, but technically rates an animal's ability to recognize small details with precision. Visual acuity depends on optical and neural factors. Optical factors of the eye ...

'', a

prime-time Prime time, or peak time, is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for television shows. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to b ...

television-newsmagazine program. Dr. Jennifer Ashton was the Chief Medical Editor for ''ABC News''; while Johnson still served as a correspondent. Typically, though not exclusively, Ashton reported on developments in nutrition and pediatrics, while Johnson focused on health issues for senior adults.

Retirement

Johnson retired from ABC in 2010. Johnson retired from WCVB at the end of 2012.

Ministry

Johnson continues as a Pastor in the Evangelical Covenant Church.

Awards

Johnson was inducted as a Laureate of

The Lincoln Academy of Illinois The Lincoln Academy of Illinois is a not-for-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to recognizing contributions made by living Illinoisans. Named for Abraham Lincoln, the Academy administers the Order of Lincoln, the highest award given b ...

, and awarded the Order of Lincoln (the State’s highest honor) by the Governor of Illinois in 2013 in the area of Communications.

Bibliography

Johnson published a book ''Finding God in the Questions: A Personal Journey'' (2004) (

InterVarsity Press Founded in 1947, InterVarsity Press (IVP) is a Christian publisher located in Lisle, Illinois. IVP focuses on publishing Christian books and digital resources that discuss influential cultural moments, provide tools for mental growth through a ...

, ) describing his journey of how he became a Christian, and answering a series of questions, such as "Why Bother With Religion and the Bible?" and "What Did Jesus Teach?"

Notes

External links

* *

Staff writer In journalism, a staff writer byline indicates that the author of the article is an employee of the periodical, as opposed to being an independent freelance writer. In Britain, staff writers may work in the office instead of traveling to cover a ...

(2005-10-10).
"Dr. G. Timothy Johnson

. Accessed 2009-09-29. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Timothy 1936 births Albany Medical College alumni American Protestant ministers and clergy American medical journalists American non-fiction writers Physicians from Massachusetts American television reporters and correspondents Augustana College (Illinois) alumni Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health alumni Harvard Medical School faculty Living people North Park Theological Seminary alumni Place of birth missing (living people)