Fellow, Francis S. and Maurine G. Johnson Chair

In 2010 Maurine Johnson, wife of the late Dr. Francis “Frank” Johnson, UT Dallas’ first acting president, became a member of the Legacy Society with a planned gift intended to create the Francis S. and Maurine G. Johnson Distinguished University Chair in the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. Upon her death in 2016 at the age of 97, Johnson’s gift of $5.5 million became the largest planned gift in UTD’s history. In addition to establishing the original distinguished chair, the bequest allowed the University to create seven additional Francis S. and Maurine G. Johnson Chairs to support the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.

Current Chair

Dr. Mario Wriedt

• Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry

“We use modern X-ray diffraction techniques on a routine basis to elucidate important structure-property relationships of our materials at the atomic scale. The outcomes push our research to the next level.”