Papers of Gerald Woodrow Johnson, physicist and specialist in the fields of nuclear policy and atomic energy. Johnson served as associate director for testing at the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory during the 1950s and was active in the development of underground testing of nuclear weapons. During the Kennedy administration, Johnson assisted the Secretary of Defense on issues related to the safety of nuclear weapons and the introduction of permissive action links in U.S. and NATO stockpiles. As Director of U.S. Navy Laboratories from 1966 to 1968, Johnson was responsible for 30 research and development facilities. He worked in energy development for a decade and returned to nuclear policy in 1977 as personal representative of the Secretary of Defense in the Carter Administration, where he was involved with the Strategic Arms Limitations Talks and the Comprehensive Test Ban negotiations. Johnson was adjunct professor of political science in the Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation at the University of California, San Diego, until his retirement. The papers contain subject files on a range of nuclear issues; writings by Johnson, especially NUCLEAR WEAPONS TEST BANS: A HISTORY; correspondence with prominent figures in government, the military, and nuclear research; materials from the SALT I and SALT II negotiations; teaching materials; and photographs of nuclear tests and international meetings on arms control.

Gerald Woodrow Johnson was born in Spangle, Washington, in 1917. He graduated from Washington State College in 1937, received the M.S. degree from the same college in 1939, and was awarded a Ph.D. in physics from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1947.

17.60 linear feet (45 archives boxes)

Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.