Arthur Johnson University of Illinois Orchestra South American Tour Records, 1963-1992 | The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music

Arthur L. Johnson was born August 10, 1914 in Tampico, Illinois. He graduated from Carthage College in 1938 with his bachelor's degree and later attended the University of Illinois, earning a master of arts in 1950 and a master of science in 1954.

Johnson served as an officer in the Army Corps of Engineers during World War II and retired as a colonel in 1974. After teaching music education in high schools in Illinois and Colorado and serving as the band director at the Roosevelt Junior High School, Johnson became a professor of music at the University of Illinois from 1961 till his retirement in 1979. He also managed the Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra from 1965 to 1979, and headed the 18-week UI Symphony Orchestra tour of South America in 1964.

Arthur Johnson passed away on September 2, 1991 at his home in Maine and was survived by his wife Tina, his daughter Blanche, and his son Richard.