Utah Valley University
Ph.D. Education: Policy and Leadership, The Ohio State University, 2013
Educational Psychology and Philosophy with emphasis in Higher Education
Dissertation: “Fundraising and Endowment Building at a Land Grant University During the Critical Period, 1910-1940: The Failure of Ohio State” (Spencer Dissertation Fellowship Finalist, 2012-2013) Committee: Bruce A. Kimball, Bryan R. Warnick, Ann Allen, and Robert F. Lawson
M.A. Education, The Ohio State University, 2010
Foundations, Leadership, and Policy of Education
M.A. History, Brigham Young University, 2007
Thesis: “Count Egmont's Attempt to Mediate King Philip II's Arbitrary Rule: Precursor to the Dutch Revolt” (carried out research in French and Dutch during two summers in Belgium and Holland) Advisor: Donald J. Harreld
B.A. History, Brigham Young University, 2004
Minor: Computers and the Humanities, 2004
CURRENT ACADEMIC APPOINTMENT
Assistant Professor, Department of Student Leadership and Success Studies (SLSS), Utah Valley University 8/2013 to Present
Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles:
“Understanding Digital Distractions to Improve Teaching and Learning,” Benjamin A. Johnson and Stephanie L. Shaulskiy, Comparative & International Higher Education 5, no. 1 (2013): 1-4.
“The Inception of the Meaning and Significance of Endowment in American Higher Education, 1890-1930,” Bruce A. Kimball and Benjamin A. Johnson, Teachers College Record 114, no. 10 (2012): http://www.tcrecord.org/content.asp?contentid=16669
“Nurturing Independent Learning in the Undergraduate Student in History: A Faculty-Student Mentoring Experience,” Benjamin A. Johnson and Donald J. Harreld, Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning 20, no. 3 (August 2012): 361-378.
“The Beginning of ‘Free Money’ Ideology in American Universities: Charles W. Eliot at Harvard, 1869-1909,” Bruce A. Kimball and Benjamin A. Johnson, History of Education Quarterly 52, no. 2 (May 2012): 222-250.
“The Ethics of Corporatization: Competing Visions for University Leadership,” Benjamin A. Johnson, Philosophical Studies in Education 41 (2010): 95-105.
“Sustaining Higher Learning: Endowment Building and Financing Higher Education,” Benjamin A. Johnson, Comparative & International Higher Education 2, no. 2 (2010): 33-36.
“Tragedy and the Meaning of School Shootings,” Bryan R. Warnick, Benjamin A. Johnson, and Samuel Rocha, Educational Theory 60, no. 3 (June 2010): 371-390.
American Higher Education Transformed, 1940-2005: Documenting the National Discourse by Wilson Smith and Thomas Bender, Journal of Higher Education 82, no. 1 (January/February 2011): 114-117. (Benjamin A. Johnson and Bruce A. Kimball)
After the Harkness Gift: A History of Phillips Exeter Academy Since 1930 by Julia Heskel and Davis Dyer, History of Education Quarterly 50, no. 4 (November 2010): 562-564. (Benjamin A. Johnson)
The Standardization of American Schooling: Linking Secondary and Higher Education, 1870-1910 by Marc A. VanOverbeke, Education Review (8 May 2010): http://edrev.asu.edu/reviews/rev915.pdf. (Benjamin A. Johnson)
SELECT RESEARCH PRESENTATIONS
“When Persistence Pays: The Dead Hand Debate and the Financing of Higher Education.” Paper Presented at the History of Education Society (HES) in Chicago, November 2011. (peer reviewed).
“Educational Fundraising in the 1920s and 1930s: Endowment Building at Ohio State University, the University of Michigan, and Harvard University.” Paper presented in the Matters of Money session at the History of Education Society (HES) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, November 2010. (peer reviewed)
“Permanently Tainted? The Acceptance of Ill-Begotten and Restricted Funds in Education.” Paper presented at the Graduate Student Conference on Philosophy and Education (GSCOPE), Columbus, Ohio, October, 2010. (peer reviewed)
“Turning Points in Endowment Building: Comparing Ohio State University, University of Michigan, and Harvard University.” Paper presented in International Engagement in Education: The Role of Universities, Governments, and Philanthropy session (also chaired) at the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) in Chicago, March 2010. (peer reviewed)
“John Dewey and Contemporary Politics: Scholarly Work Outside the Classroom.” Paper presented in Recognition of the 150th Anniversary of John Dewey’s Birth session at the American Educational Studies Association (AESA) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, November 2009. (peer reviewed)
“Conceptualizing and Managing Assessment in Academic Support Services,” Presentation with Lauren Hensley, Samuel Rowe, and Stephanie Levitt at the 2013 Student Affairs Assessment & Research Conference in the Academic Support Services Session, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, June 2013. (peer reviewed)
"Digital Distractions: Exploring Benefits and Detriments of Technology for Teaching and Learning," Presentation for Educational Session, Improving Student Experience, with Stephanie Levitt for Ohio Educational Technology Conference (eTech Ohio), Columbus, Ohio, February 2013. (peer reviewed)
“The Ethics of Corporatization: Competing Visions of Leadership in Higher Education.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Ohio Valley Philosophy of Education Society (OVPES) in Dayton, Ohio, September 2009. (peer reviewed)
“Qualitative Research and the Reassessment of a National Hero: A Major Dilemma for Educational Policy.” Paper presented at the Midwest Comparative and International Education Society (MWCIES) Conference in Chicago at Loyola University, Comparative-Historical Cases of Qualitative Inquiry session, November 2007. (peer reviewed)
“Why and How the University of Michigan Eclipsed The Ohio State University in Building an Endowment in the Critical Period 1910 to 1940.” Paper presented at the Research Roundtable, School of Educational Policy and Leadership in Columbus at The Ohio State University, March 2012.
“Women and Tenure in Higher Education.” Paper presented at the College of Education and Human Ecology 13th Annual Diversity Forum & Graduate Student Symposium in Columbus at The Ohio State University, May 2008.
SELECT RESEARCH GRANTS, FELLOWSHIPS, AND AWARDS
National Academy of Education and Spencer Dissertation Fellowship Finalist, 2012-2013
H. Gordon Hullfish Memorial Scholarship, Ohio State University, $1,900, 2011-2013
Bentley Historical Library Fellowship, University of Michigan, $1,500, October 2009
School of Educational Policy and Leadership, OSU, Travel Grants, $2,550, 2007-2013
De Lamar and Mary Jensen Graduate Fellowship in Early Modern European History, BYU, $1,000, 2005-2006
DavidM. Kennedy Center Grant (for masters thesis research in Brussels and The Hague), BYU, $500, July 2005
History Department Graduate Research Award (for masters thesis research in Brussels and The Hague), BYU, $1,150, July 2005
Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship for German, Academic Year, BYU, $14,000 plus tuition, 2004-2005
Office of Research and Creative Activities (ORCA) student grant (for independent research project in Brussels), BYU, $1,500, 2004
Participated on research team funded by ORCA faculty assisted Mentoring Environment Grant in Royal Brussels archives, Topic: Charles V’s Hundredth Penny Tax Project, BYU, $3,300 (lodging, transportation, and board), May 2004
Phi Alpha Theta (PAT), Beta Iota Chapter Delegate in New Orleans, Louisiana, BYU, $600, January 2004
Awarded Best PAT Chapter, Phi Alpha Theta, $500, 2002-2003 and 2003-2004
LANGUAGES, RESIDENCIES ABROAD, AND TECHNICAL SKILLS
Have studied, maintained residence, or researched in Belgium, France, Germany, Guyana, the Netherlands, and Suriname. Research languages include:
o Dutch (intermediate)
o French (intermediate)
o Some German and Sranan Tongo.
· American Educational Research Association (AERA)
· American Educational Studies Association (AESA)
· Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE)
· Comparative and International Education Society (CIES)
· History of Education Society (HES)
· Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education (NASPA)