F.V. Johnson

GE

The Center for Technology & Innovation Leadership Award is named in honor of Fritihof V. “Fritz” Johnson (1909 - 2010), an avionics pioneer with General Electric who spearheaded the art of navigating with gyroscopes in the early 1930s. Mr. Johnson moved from GE-Schenectady to lead an aeronautical engineering group at GE-Westover, NY from 1964 until his retirement in 1975. In 1977, F. V. Johnson was named an IEEE Life Fellow for "contributions in inertial sensors and avionic systems," and in 1979 he was the first recipient of the IEEE Charles Proteus Steinmetz Award. In 1946, GE presented Mr. Johnson with the Charles A. Coffin Award and the GE Aircraft Control Systems Department created the F. V. " Fritz" Johnson Award for Engineering Excellence in 1991. Fritz Johnson maintained a lifelong involvement in civic, cultural, and church activities throughout his retirement. The core of the Center for Technology & Innovation’s F. V. “Fritz” Johnson Leadership Award is his durable legacy of inspiring both technological and community advancement.