Johanson science Building salutes four Decades of service to tarleton

Johanson Science Building Salutes FouR DECADES

of seRVice To TARLETon

Tarleton State University’s science building got a new title in 2014 as the edifice was named in honor of long-time professor and dean Dr. Lamar Johanson.

Johanson began his 40-year career at Tarleton as a biology professor prior to becoming chairman of biological sciences, then dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. In addition, he was the first executive director of Tarleton State University in Killeen, now Texas A&M University–Central Texas.

In 1961, after a stint in the Air Force, Johanson came to Tarleton. He took a four-year leave of absence to earn his doctorate in plant physiology and biochemistry from Texas A&M, returning to Tarleton in 1967 and remaining until his retirement in 2001.

Johanson’s time at Tarleton was marked by a keen interest in the school’s athletic programs. He served for two decades as a faculty athletics representative, was a director of the Tarleton Texan Club and was one of the first recipients of the school’s All Purple Award. Plus, he was the president of the Lone Star Conference from 1997-1999.

He and his wife, Marilynn, in 2012 donated their ranch to Tarleton as a life estate gift. The 1,700 acres of farm and ranch land, including mineral rights, is in San Saba and Mills counties of Texas. The donation was estimated to be in excess of $5 million.

The Dr. Lamar Johanson Science Building, a $30 million facility featuring 160,000 square feet of computer labs, classrooms, lecture halls, research labs, an auditorium and planetarium was completed in 2001. The new structure replaced the original science building from 1931.

Johanson commented on the naming of the science building in his honor, thanking the university “for providing the place, the environment and the culture for me to do what I enjoyed the most – teach and work with students. Nothing is more satisfying.”