Lonnie Johnson

Dr. Lonnie Johnson began his career as a research engineer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. While in the Air Force, Johnson served as: Acting Chief of the Space Nuclear Power Safety Section at the Air Force Weapons Laboratory;Advanced Space Systems Requirements Officer at Strategic Air Command (SAC) HQ;Chief of the Data Management Branch, SAC Test and Evaluation Squadron at Edwards Air Force Base. Dr. Johnson then joined NASA. He served as Senior Systems Engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where one of his inventions was incorporated in the Galileo mission to Jupiter. He also contributed to the Mars Observer project and the early stages of the Cassini (Saturn) project.

Johnson is most well known as the inventor of the Super Soaker squirt gun, which became one of the most popular toys in the world and has generated billions of dollars in retail revenue under the license. Propelled by the success of the Super Soaker, Johnson founded Johnson R&D, where he spearheads development of technological advances in clean energy and batteries.

Dr. Johnson also hosts and sponsors the national FIRST® Robotics Competition, a program that inspires young people’s interest and participation in science and technology. Johnson holds a M.S. in Nuclear Engineering, a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, and an honorary doctorate in science. In 2022, Johnson was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame