(Written: June 2012)
Ray C. Johnson was the athletics director for 31 years at UW-Stout until his retirement in 1969. In the early years, his duties were divided between administration and coaching, and he found success in both fields. As men’s basketball coach, his teams won conference titles and earned playoff berths to the NAIA national tournament in Kansas City in 1942 and 1943. As football coach, his team won the conference title in 1941. In 1965, Johnson was appointed to a two-year term on the Governor's Committee for Physical Fitness.
He was responsible for overseeing the completion of UW-Stout's fieldhouse – later named Johnson Fieldhouse in his honor. Johnson, a 1976 inductee into the NAIA District 14 Hall of Fame, served as NAIA District 14 chairman from 1952-60 and area chairman from 1956-60. He received the NAIA National Award of Merit in 1967 for his long service to athletics and that organization.
Johnson received an undergraduate degree from Moorhead State Teachers College (Minn.) and a master’s degree from Columbia University (N.Y.).
Johnson passed away in 1988.