Alumni Hall of Fame
Robert L. Johnson
Robert L. Johnson is the founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Black Entertainment Television (BET), the leading African American-owned and operated media and entertainment company in the United States. The core BET Network has pioneered an entire genre in television. Its 24-hour programming targets African-American consumers and now reaches more than 65 million U.S. homes – and more than 90% of all African American cable households. In 1998, Johnson established BET Pictures and BET Arabesque Films to produce and market African American-themed film releases, documentaries and made for TV movies. BET has also leveraged its brand identity into new businesses outside the cable industry with direct ownership of BET Arabesque Books, the only line of original African-American romance novels written by African-American authors.
From 1976 to 1979, Johnson served as vice president of Government Relations for the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA), a trade association representing more than 1,500 cable television companies. Prior to joining the NCTA, Johnson was press secretary for the Honorable Walter E. Fauntroy, Congressional Delegate from the District of Columbia. Johnson previously held positions at the Washington Urban League and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Mr. Johnson serves on a variety of corporate boards, including US Airways; Hilton Hotels Corporation; General Mills; United Negro College Fund; National Cable Television Association; and the American Film Institute. Johnson is also a member of the Board of Governors for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland; and the Brookings Institute. He has also received a number of awards. In 1997 he was admitted to Broadcasting & Cable Magazine's Hall of Fame. Cablevision Magazine's 20/20 Vision Award lists him as one of the twenty most influential people in the cable industry. In addition, the NAACP awarded Mr. Johnson its Image Award and the National Women's Political Caucus gave him their Good Guys Award. Finally, Johnson has received a Distinguished Alumni Award from Princeton University and the President's Award from the National Cable & Telecommunications Association.
In addition to his bachelor degree from UIUC in 1968, Mr. Johnson holds a master's in
International Affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. Johnson resides in Washington, D.C., with his wife, Sheila, and their two children.