PNNL

John R. Johnson serves as director of the Institute of Quantum Sciences at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and is a senior advisor in PNNL’s Integrated Discovery Sciences Directorate. He brings decades of research and leadership experience spanning quantum information science, computational science, cybersecurity, high-performance computing, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. His primary interests include computer architecture and the design and optimization of algorithms for complex scientific challenges. 

Johnson spent several years detailed to the Laboratory for Physical Sciences, affiliated with the University of Maryland, where he led a broad portfolio of multi-institutional quantum information science research. His work focused on quantum and classical hardware and software architectures, and he built and managed multidisciplinary teams working across qubit devices and control, quantum algorithms, error correction and fault tolerance, classical computing and control systems, high-performance computing, and modeling and simulation. 

Previously, Johnson served as deputy division director for PNNL’s Advanced Computing and Mathematics Division, overseeing research in computational science, mathematics, statistics, and high-performance computing. He also founded and led PNNL’s High-Performance Data Analytics program and served on leadership teams for the Center for Adaptive Supercomputing Software – Multi-Threaded program and the Asymmetric Resilience Cybersecurity Initiative. 

Before joining PNNL, Johnson held technology and research leadership positions at Bridgewater Associates and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). At LLNL, he led research spanning large-scale scientific simulation and emerging computing architectures, including one of the nation’s early efforts demonstrating the feasibility of graphics processing units for general-purpose computing. 

Johnson holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of California, Berkeley; a master’s degree in music from the New England Conservatory; and a master’s degree in computer science from Johns Hopkins University. He also completed doctoral studies in computer science at the University of Chicago and holds a Credential of Leadership, Impact, Management, and Business from Harvard University online.

• Master of Science, Computer Science, Johns Hopkins University 
• Bachelor of Arts, Mathematics, University of California-Berkeley