John S. Johnson received both his A.B. (1957) and M.D. (1961) degrees from Vanderbilt University. He conducted his medical internship in the Department of Medicine at Vanderbilt from 1961 to 1962. Following additional training at the University of Rochester, Johnson worked as a clinical associate and senior investigator for the National Institutes of Health. He joined the faculty at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in 1974 as Associate Cliniacl Professor in the Department of Medicine, and he was promoted to Associate Professor of Medicine in 1995. The same year, Johnson became Vice-Chair for Clinical Affairs and Chair of the Department of Medicine at St. Thomas Hospital in Nashville. Johnson was promoted to full Professor at Vanderbilt in 1997 and was made Professor of Medicine Emeritus in 2005. He also held a private practice of rheumatology in Nashville from 1974 to 1995.