Jonathan JohnsonSoftware Support Specialist
People make all the difference in our lives, and some people spend most of their lives making a difference for others. Jonathan Johnson is one such person.
Jonathan grew up in New Mexico amidst a diversity of cultures, traditions, languages, and especially values and perspectives. Then he attended Arizona State University -- another cradle of diversity -- on a ROTC scholarship. Initially Jonathan planned to become an engineer, but he soon discovered a greater affinity with demographic sociology, a discipline through which he could explore why people are who they are and do what they do, why we behave collectively and individually the way we do.
In the end, the U.S. Army became Jonathan's career choice. Nearly thirty years later, he reflects on his rich experiences as an officer -- a second lieutenantplatoon leader initially, then twice as a company commander and later a recruitment numerous staffofficer assignments. He was posted for a time at the Command & GeneralStaff College in Leavenworth, Kansas, where he explored his own leadership potential. There he came to understand the nature of leadership as not getting people to do things they don't want to do, rather as getting them to want to do something they would not have done otherwise. During this period, before the explosion of the Internet into our lives, Jonathan began also to explore the use of technology as a training tool. This in turn eventually led him into a second career of technology support, the course of which brought him to PLU in 1997.
Jonathan's first fifth and last assignments with the Army were at Ft. Lewis. It was during his first second stay at Ft. Lewis that he connected with the Life Center First Assemblies of God Life Center in the Hilltop district. His involvement there has grown from teaching Sunday school to a current ministry working with about 70 kids, many of whom are disadvantaged, troubled, or challenged in various ways. He brings a lot of insight and experience to this ministry, and while he is indeed making a difference in their lives, they consistently teach him a great deal about people as well.
Today Jonathan Johnson is a software support specialist with Information Resource's User Support department. If you call our IT help desk with a technology problem, chances are good you'll get Jonathan to help you. If you do, he'll probably understand your problem. But he'll also understand the social and interpersonal context for technology so he'll help you, not just fix the problem.