USF alumnus Ken Johnson tells role in Enron, Stewart investigations
What do Enron, Martha Stewart, Arthur Anderson,
WorldCom and Ford-Firestone have in common, aside
from being business scandals of shocking proportion?
Ken Johnson, former chief spokesman for the U.S.
House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and a
University of St. Francis alumnus, has played
a key role in indictments bringing about justice
in the these cases and more.
Johnson has said that he was the first person
to announce that Arthur Anderson employees were
shredding documents at Enron. According to Johnson,
it was he and his people who discovered the rented
cell phone Stewart used to call her broker, leading
to a guilty verdict and jail time.
The public is invited to hear Johnson recount
his experiences in "A Fireside Chat with
Ken Johnson," 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday,
Oct. 2 in the university’s Moser Performing
Arts Center studio theater. Johnson will also
receive the Alumni Professional Achievement Award
earlier that day as part of University of St.
Francis’ Homecoming/Reunion celebration,
Oct. 1-3.
A nationally-known, award-winning former journalist,
Johnson now serves as
senior adviser to the chairman and communications
director for the U.S. House Select Committee on
Homeland Security. In addition to acting as chief
spokesman for the Committee, which oversees all
of the activities of the Department of Homeland
Security, he is involved in helping to implement
the 9/11 Commission's recommendations into law.
Prior to that, Johnson was communications director, deputy chief of staff and principal spokesman for the U. S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce -- the oldest Committee in Congress with jurisdiction over vast segments of the American economy.
In his three years at the Energy and Commerce Committee, he was at the forefront of the much-publicized congressional investigations into Enron, Martha Stewart, Ford-Firestone, WorldCom, Global Crossing, Qwest, HealthSouth, Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratory, human cloning and the cancer drug, Erbitux. Of some 30 CEOs targeted by the Committee, all were either indicted, pleaded guilty, were fired or quit their positions.
He also has played a key role in the passage of numerous major bills in Congress, including the TREAD Act and the Do-Not-Call Registry Act.
During his stint on Capitol Hill, Johnson has appeared worldwide in more than 10,000 news stories -- from Page 1 to the Style section of every major newspaper and magazine in America and many in Europe. In addition, Johnson has been profiled in such leading publications as The New York Times, Media Week, PR Week and National Journal. Twice named by Roll Call as one of the 50 most influential staffers in Congress, Johnson has also appeared prominently in a number of critically-acclaimed books on corporate scandals, including Tragic Indifference and The Cell Game.
Before coming to Capitol Hill, Mr. Johnson was a news anchorman and political reporter for CBS-TV affiliates in New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Cincinnati. He was a regional correspondent for the highly-acclaimed McNeil-Lehrer News Hour which airs nationwide on PBS; an editor for a daily newspaper; and managing editor of an award-winning magazine.
Johnson – who holds a master’s degree
from the University of St. Francis, where he also
received the President's Academic Achievement
Award -- has won more than 50 local, state and
national awards for journalistic excellence, including
the prestigious Iris award from the National Association
of Television Program Executives and "Story-of-the-Year"
award from United Press International. His 90-minute
documentary on environmental pollution also won
top honors from the American Film Institute, and
he was recognized by the Associated Press for
investigative reporting after going undercover
as an inmate at the Louisiana State Penitentiary.
The University of St. Francis, at 500 Wilcox St.,
in Joliet, serves more than 4,300 students nationwide.