Author William P Young once said: “Coincidence has a name.” Through the life of Brad Johnson, dozens of students at UNW have been blessed by one simple ‘coincidence’.
Twenty years ago, Brad Johnson, the owner of a successful business Brad Johnson Productions, Inc. was experiencing a midlife crisis. At church, his pastor had been running an eight or nine-week sermon series on giving it away to the next generation, and Johnson was struggling with his future. Johnson, at a meeting with his friend Dick McCalley heard that Mark Seignious at the University of Northwestern –St. Paul was looking for someone like Johnson to fill a position. Johnson’s phone buzzed, and his wife on the other end excitedly told Johnson that she had found an opening at UNW, the exact same opening that Johnson had just heard from McCalley. In that moment, Johnson knew that this was no coincidence, God was calling him to UNW.
Johnson was eventually hired as the Media Production Support Specialist for the Communication Department at UNW. Now, he’s fulfilling his mission to give back to the next generation. His goal is to “Make students more than competent media professionals.” His classes do just that, challenging students to go above and beyond. In his career he commands high respect from his colleagues. Mark Seignious, chair of the Communication Department said, “You know he’s kind of like MacGyver of the technical… And, you know, he would just always know the right technical answer and just has a really cool history behind things. And what makes him special is that everything I’m really good at, he isn’t but everything that he’s really good at, I’m not, so it’s just a nice complementary of skills.”
You know he’s kind of like MacGyver of the technical… And, you know, he would just always know the right technical answer and just has a really cool history behind things. And what makes him special is that everything I’m really good at, he isn’t but everything that he’s really good at, I’m not, so it’s just a nice complementary of skills
Mark Seignious
As a teacher, Johnson has found that, “Students will rise to your expectations” so he sets his expectations high. He said, “I want them {students} to see that what they do as media professionals matters in the kingdom of heaven here on earth.” Raeann Goetz, Media Production (Film and Video) and Public Relation double major with a minor in Design, says:
“As a student, like he challenges you in the best way possible, because he wants you to learn and to be the best that you can. And so some of his stuff is in some of the assignments in his classes are really, really difficult. But I know that at the end of the day, he has the best intentions for us, and that he just like wants everybody to succeed.”
Raeann Goetz
Johnson has the heart of a teacher. Though he now can be found in the classroom, Johnson said that “I’d never thought about teaching”. Now, he truly loves it. Johnson says “I love it when the light goes on for a student… When something I say inspires a student.
“Brad is really, really great at allowing students to find unique ways to solve projects.”
Ben Lundsten
Johnson believes that “The light of inspiration…it’s really a gift of God.” Beyond the lightbulb moments, every year Johnson gets emails from students telling him that information from his classes that felt meaningless in the moment, helped them solve some kind of problem.
Johnson’s advice to current UNW students is to:
- Try a lot of different things…
- Don’t be afraid to fail, realize that failure can be your friend.
- Notice your passions in the process of exploring.
- Work hard, go all in!
Through a lifetime of experience, Johnson has come to believe that hard work trumps talent, an encouraging mantra for students with big dreams. In his life, Johnson is always working to blend a pursuit of excellence in his career with the pursuit of working on himself to become a better man. Fellow faculty member Michael O’Brien says, “Brad Johnson is kind of like a rock. It just doesn’t matter what goes on here, how things are going, what’s going on or how disorganized it may be … he just gets it done.”
Brad Johnson is kind of like a rock. It just doesn’t matter what goes on here, how things are going, what’s going on or how disorganized it may be … he just gets it done.
Michael O’Brien
Johnson is a husband, father of four, and grandpa to three grandchildren. His favorite place on earth is Wyoming. He graduated from Crown College in 1981 with a double major in Music and Biblical Theology.
