Robert Johnston, Former RIT Dean and Imaging Science Researcher, Dies at 77

Robert Johnston, a former dean at Rochester Institute of Technology, died Oct. 19 at age 77. Dr. Johnston, an archaeologist, also conducted imaging science research, working on ancient documents that included a medieval copy of an ancient text by Archimedes, the Greek mathematician, and the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Dr. Johnston had a long career at RIT, starting in 1970 as dean of the College of Fine & Applied Arts, where he served for nearly 20 years. He later served as director of the Chester Carlson Center for Imaging Science. Dr. Johnston also served as a special assistant to President M. Richard Rose in 1990, and later consulted with President Albert Simone on international affairs.

Dr. Johnston served in the U.S. Marine Corp during WWII. Educated at Kutztown University (B.S. 1951), he earned his master’s degree at Columbia University in 1954. While teaching art history and ceramics at Lock Haven University (1958 -1970), he began his studies at Pennsylvania State University, earning his Ph.D. in 1970. He was a member of two expeditions from the University of Pennsylvania Museum to Gordion, Turkey (1965, 1967) and a member of the Archeological Mission of the American Museum of Natural History in Afghanistan (1969). These expeditions supported his doctorate studies and sparked a life long interest in paleoceramics.

As dean of RIT’s College of Fine and Applied Arts, Dr. Johnston introduced new programs in computer graphics design and medical illustration.

His work in imaging restoration of the Dead Sea Scrolls was in collaboration with Xerox Corp. and Eastman Kodak Co. He also worked to recover the text from five sample pages of the Archimedes Palimpsest, the 10th century Byzantine manuscript that sold for $2 million in 1998 at Christie’s auction house in New York City. The manuscript is the earliest transcription of the Greek mathematician’s writings and the only known source of his “Method of Mechanical Theorems,” which combined mathematics and physics.

“It’s another opportunity to apply imaging science technology to reveal ancient documents that would be lost without it,” Johnston said a 2000 interview.

Many community and national boards sought his membership: Margaret Woodbury Strong Museum, Rochester; Art Institutes International Coordinating Board, Pittsburgh; Rochester Museum and Science Center, Rochester; American Schools of Oriental Research, Baltimore; American Center for Oriental Research, Amman, Jordan; Art Institute of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh; American Anthropological Association (Fellow); International Explorers Club (Fellow); National Association of Schools of Art and Design.

He participated in over 50 expeditions with the University of Pennsylvania, Indiana University, American Schools of Oriental Research, Harvard University, Semitic Museum and other sites: Gordion, Turkey; Carthage, Tunisia; caves in Afghanistan; Jordan; Cyprus and Greece.

Kutztown University acknowledged him as a Distinguished Alumni and Pennsylvania State University, College of Arts and Architecture as an Outstanding Alumnus.

Dr. Johnston is survived by his wife, Louise E.; daughters, Vickie M. (Michael) Roberts, and Tara A. DuMont; and 4 grandchildren.