Richard R. Johnson

Richard R. Johnson received a BS in Civil Engineering from Rice University and a Master's in Urban and Environmental Planning from the University of Virginia. He currently serves as he senior executive director for Rice University’s Office of Sustainability, where he leads Rice’s sustainability program and oversees a team whose work spans aligning university goals with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals; energy and water conservation, procurement, and analytics; utility planning and visioning; design and specification review; zero waste initiatives; green building; climate action planning; campus engagement; and so much more.  Richard co-directs Rice’s Environmental Studies program and holds appointments as a professor in the practice of environmental studies in sociology and as formerly as an adjunct lecturer in civil and environmental engineering. He has taught over 25 classes at Rice, and frequently partners with faculty across the university to support their courses, often using the campus as a living lab for learning about sustainability and enacting change. 

He co-chairs the Texas Regional Alliance for Campus Sustainability and is the former president of the board of the Houston Farmers' Market. Richard is a husband, father, foodie and traveler, and has served as a volunteer public radio deejay for nearly 30 years.