Johnson, Robert Wood II

Basic Biographical Information

Robert Wood Johnson II was born in 1893 in New Brunswick, New Jersey. His father, Robert Wood Johnson I, was the founder of Johnson & Johnson, the health and medical care product manufacturer that would become one of the world’s most successful and well-respected companies. During World War II, Johnson became a brigadier general in charge of the New York Ordnance District. He eventually resigned his commission to accept President Roosevelt’s appointment as vice chairman of the War Production Board and chairman of the Smaller War Plants Corporation.

Johnson was the president of Johnson & Johnson from 1932 to 1938 and chairman of the board from 1938 until 1963. Under his direction, the company grew from $11 million to $700 million in annual sales and expanded from New Jersey to around the globe.

Upon Johnson’s death in 1968, he left the bulk of his $400 million estate to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, creating one of the world’s largest private...