Becky Lynne Johnson

Dr. Becky Lynne Beard Johnson, 74, of Tulsa died Sunday, March 5, 2017, at her home with friends from the All Souls Unitarian Church, Oklahoma State University and her beloved pets.

Dr. Johnson was born May 4, 1942, to James Byron and Margaret Beard. Her father was in the military and remained until retirement. Becky was part of a military family that lived in Hawaii, Japan, California. She finished high school in Colorado Springs and attended Colorado Girls State as well as a National Science Foundation Summer Program at Colorado State University. Because her dad was from El Reno, Oklahoma, she enrolled and graduated from Oklahoma State University in 1964 with a BS degree in Physiology. From there she and her former husband Jerry Johnson went to the University of Illinois where she earned a PhD in physiology in 1968. While Jerry Johnson was completing his degree in mathematics, Becky received a National Institutes Fellowship in 1969 to do research as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow. During her years as a graduate student, she published two papers and on her NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship she published three papers in two years. This was a great beginning for a tenure track academic position.

When former husband Jerry received an offer to join the Department of Mathematics, Becky returned to Oklahoma State in 1971 to become a faculty member in the Department of Physiology but a change in the Deans office in the College of Veterinary medicine did not honor the previous dean's commitments. She was then hired as an instructor in Biological sciences for the next 5 years. This was not a tenured position and did not require research. Nevertheless, Dr. Johnson persevered and was appointed to a tenure track position as an Assistant Professor in 1975. The position only involved teaching but Dr. Johnson wanted to be complete as a faculty and use her training to become a full participating member of the academe following the Land Grant mission of teaching, research and outreach.

Since she did not have a research appointment she decided to return to school and earn a PhD in Agronomy where her chances were greater for a research and teaching position in addition interest in the plant sciences. She took a few courses in plant breeding and genetics, but with consultation, she decided to connect with researchers and use her skills for collaboration in the new area of plant propagation through tissue culture. That is, cloning specific plants.

Becky published a peer-reviewed paper in 1978 HortScience on the propagation of such ornamentals as gloxinia and Episcia and the vegetable Broccoli, all from leaf and stem tissue. She also published in collaboration peer reviewed manuscripts on the regeneration of plants from bluestem embryonic callus tissue.

Her major accomplishment was the cloning of peanuts from the leaves of single peanut plant that were subsequently planted in the field after being generated in test tubes.

Dr. Ray. O Hammons Research Geneticist at the USDA Tifton, GA Research unit wrote, "The significance of your achievement --- not only for science and for peanut researchers, but also for peanut growers and endues consumers will be easily recognized by your peers in research. I trust that administrators who decide upon research priorities will understand and support the need for continued and intensive work in the field".

During this period, Becky Johnson was appointed by Governor Henry Bellmon to the Governor's Commission on the Status of Women, the forerunner to the present Oklahoma Commission on the Status of Women and she was also very active in the Stillwater Women's Political Caucus.

Her teaching responsibilities never diminished as this research was in addition to her teaching. She was recognized by the Student Government Association as an Outstanding teacher in Biological sciences in 1978. In 1985, she received the AMOCO Outstanding Teacher Award, the highest monetary award to faculty for excellence in teaching. Again, many students wrote letters in her behalf in addition to her colleagues. She served in the Central administration as an Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs and helped with college curriculum.

For outreach, Dr. Johnson participated in National Science Foundation (NSF) sponsored workshops for high school teachers and mentored high school teachers who came to learn research with their students. She also conducted summer workshops for high school students from grants provided by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education (OSRHE). She also assisted in the University of Tulsa in biotechnology workshops for secondary teachers. Her most favorite activity was searching for fossils. She maintained a large collection of fossils from Oklahoma and would go out after a rain and look in limestone areas on the sides of roads in Pawnee and Osage County. She often took students and teachers and taught them how to find, identify and clean them.

As a testimony to her acceptance by her peers, she was appointed as Head of the Department of Botany at Oklahoma State University. This was an unusual appointment in that that she had no degree in the Plant Sciences or in Botany. Her degree and first publications were in animal physiology. Nevertheless, her extensive research and publications in peer reviewed journals in the plant science areas led to her being asked to contribute a chapter to Peanut Science and Technology in 1982 and a section on cole crops in the Handbook of Plant Cell Culture in 1984.

After retiring for Oklahoma State University in 2007, she moved to Tulsa and continued her involvement by volunteering at the Linnaeus Teaching Garden of the Tulsa Garden Center, giving tours and workshops on gourds. Gardening and growing gourds were one of her several hobbies. She was also known for her Children's workshops and for senior citizen outreach.

She was an active member of All Souls Unitarian Church and an enthusiastic participant in children's Summer Camp activities, engaging them in the many interests of her life. She was a longtime and faithful member of the Sunday Salon, the weekly forum of current events.

Dr. Johnson was preceded in death by her parents. Survivors include her only sister, Juanita Beard Dunn of Santa Fe, NM.

Memorial services will be held in the sanctuary at All Souls Unitarian Church on Friday, March 31, 2017, at 4:00 PM. Charities include the Humane Society and the Linnaeus Teaching Garden.