Lionel C. Johnson

President
Pacific Pension & Investment Institute (PPI)

Lionel C. Johnson became president of the Pacific Pension & Investment Institute in July 2014. His career spans nearly four decades, during which he has been a leader in international business, public policy, and economic development. He has served as senior vice president of the Initiative for Global Development, vice president of Turkey, Middle East, and North Africa Affairs at the Chamber of Commerce of the United States, and vice president of Public Affairs at Fleishman-Hillard. 

Previously, Johnson was vice president and director of International Government Affairs at Citigroup and deputy assistant secretary of the Treasury for International Development, Debt, and Environment Policy in the Clinton Administration. He was also a senior advisor for Resources, Plans, and Policy to Secretary of State Warren Christopher and a Department of State Policy Planning Staff member. He served as deputy director of the Clinton/Gore transition team at the Department of State.

As a member of the U.S. Foreign Service, Johnson held assignments in the U.S. Embassies in Haiti, the Philippines, and Kenya. He also served as special assistant to Secretaries of State George P. Shultz and James A. Baker III. Johnson was a senior program officer at the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs. He was a graduate instructor of U.S. foreign policy and American politics at the City University of Manila, Philippines, and received his B.A. in political science from Rutgers University in 1982.

Johnson is a professor of Practice of International Relations at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. Johnson is also chairman of Sudoc, a sustainable chemical start-up, and is a member of the board of trustees of the RAND Corporation. He has two children, Alicia and Christopher.