Distinguished Alumni
Preston Johnson
Awarded 2003
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.