Aspen Institute Mourns the Loss of Elmer Johnson, Former President and CEO 

The Aspen Institute mourns the loss of former trustee and Institute President and CEO Elmer Johnson, who passed away at his winter home in Arizona on Tuesday, February 19, 2008. Johnson, a Chicago native, had an illustrious career as an attorney, serving as managing partner of the national law firm Kirkland & Ellis for nearly two decades and executive vice president, director, and general counsel of General Motors Corporation. He joined the Institute’s Board of Trustees in 1988 and had moderated numerous seminars over the years. As President and CEO from 1999 to 2002, he dedicated himself to strengthening the Institute’s programs and outreach.  

While Johnson was still a partner at Kirkland & Ellis, he became a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In this position, he took on research of urban planning and policy, an area that became a critical interest throughout his remaining years. Later, after completing a three-year study for the Commercial Club of Chicago, Johnson wrote Chicago Metropolis 2020: The Chicago Plan for the 21st Century, which outlined a comprehensive plan for the future of metropolitan Chicago and was published by the University of Chicago.

Throughout his life, Johnson also devoted himself to numerous civic causes, serving as vice chair and director of the Chicago United Way and as a trustee of the Lyric Opera Association, the University of Chicago, and Chicago’s Children's Memorial Hospital, as well as serving as vice chair of the Detroit Symphony and director of the Art School of the Cranbrook Academy in Detroit. Read his obituary in the Chicago Tribune.