NDA is excited to welcome its newest addition to the science department, Dr. Chris Johnson. 

Johnson isn’t quite sure what led him to Notre Dame, but he described it as a “right place, right time” type situation. He is teaching ICP (Intro to Chemistry and Physics) and Honors Chemistry.

He describes his teaching style as “lead by example and teach through doing.” He thinks that lectures can get boring quickly and believes the best way to learn and master something is through hands-on experience. 

“Lectures can get boring quite quickly, and from my experience, the best way to learn is hands-on. I hope to inspire some students to further their education in STEM,” said Johnson. 

Johnson wanted to become a chemistry teacher because it was his hardest subject, until he finally figured out how to learn it. He wants to show his students that this shouldn’t stop them from mastering chemistry and succeeding in it. 

“I wanted to give back like my mentors did me and show that a “difficult” subject doesn’t have to be so difficult,” said Johnson. 

Growing up, Johnson spent time all over the US, but he spent a large portion living near Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He went to college and graduate school at UW-Milwaukee, where he received his Bachelor’s degree in chemistry and a Ph.D in organic chemistry. 

“I went to three vastly different high schools, one in Louisiana, one in New Hampshire and my senior year at Wrightstown,” described Johnson. 

Outside of NDA, Johnson has some pretty interesting hobbies. He is a shade-tree mechanic and is currently working on supercharging his Subaru and retrofitting it with a manual transmission. 

He also restores Victorian Homes and is currently working on his fifth home. It is a 1889 Victorian farmhouse in the country.