Roz Johnson graduated from West Point in 1992 with a BS in Chemistry, and received an MS from Texas A&M University in Engineering Systems Management in 2000. Upon graduation from West Point she served 6 years as an ordnance officer with assignments to the 2nd Infantry Division in the ROK, 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, and 3rd Signal Brigade at Fort Hood. She is proud to have been an active duty military spouse for over 20 years, and through those years she worked in leadership, administrative, and fundraising positions for non-profits and taught as an adjunct mathematics professor at Colorado Christian University.
Roz’s most recent employment was with the University of Washington Tacoma where she served for three years as the inaugural Associate Director, under dual supervision of the Registrar and Assistant Vice Chancellor for External Relations, for the Alaska Airlines sponsored Veteran and Military Resource Center. Roz was instrumental in the collaborative effort to bring the first South Sound Military-Connected Career Development Specialist funded by a Boeing Grant to a higher education campus. As the Associate Director she worked closely with UWT’s 18% military-connected student population as they transitioned to higher education. In addition, she collaborated with the military bases in the region planning on-going projects and events (e.g., Cybersecurity, Leadership Luncheon, and Views on the Pacific Symposia). She also facilitated the partnership between the university, state entities, and community partners in regards to higher education and veterans issues. From 2015-2019 Roz was the first point of contact for the Fellows attending the University of Washington – U.S. Army War College Asia-Pacific Fellowship program.
In January 2018, she received the Advisor of the Year Award from the Student Veterans of America organization, a non-profit representing over 1,500 student veteran groups on college campuses and over 700,000 student veterans across the globe.
Roz’s husband COL (Ret) Dave Johnson (ROTC – Iowa State University) served on active duty for 28 years and retired in 2015. They live in sunny, beautiful Santa Cruz, CA. They have two children: Tommy born in 1998 at Ft Hood, TX and Emily born in 2000 at Ft Carson, CO.
Roz joined the Major and Leadership Giving Team in December 2020 and is thrilled to be a remote member of the team. Her focus will be West Coast donors located in California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, and Colorado.