Arthur L. Johnson, former president of the Detroit chapter of the NAACP, received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Wayne State University earlier this month at a commencement ceremony at Cobo Hall.

Johnson retired from Wayne State University in 1995 after 23 years of service. He joined the university in 1965 as a part-time sociology faculty member. In 1979 he become the first director of the WSU department of community relations and in 1992 was named senior vice president for university relations.

In his various posts at the university Johnson pushed for the hiring of more women and minorities at all employment levels. One of his most enduring achievements, for which he received the university's Arts Advocate Award in 1996, is the Detroit Festival of the Arts, which he created to celebrate the rich cultural contributions of our community. He was, in the words of former President David Adamany, "the conscience of Wayne State."

Before coming to Detroit in 1950 to serve as the executive secretary of the new branch of the NAACP he had already helped one of his college classmates, Martin Luther King Jr., form a campus chapter of the NAACP at Morehouse College in Atlanta.

Johnson helped stage the first sit-ins at restaurants on Woodward Avenue; helped enlarge the Detroit chapter of the NAACP into one of the nation's largest and most successful chapters; and organized the largest sit-down fund-raising dinner in the world, the annual Freedom Fund Dinner which draws 10,000 people and raises more than $1 million each year.

In addition to his professional accomplishments, Johnson serves or has served on the boards of several nonprofit organizations including the Public Broadcasting Service, the American Symphony Orchestra League, the Detroit Science Center, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the Detroit Institute of Arts. He has received more than two-dozen honors and awards including the Michigan Chronicle's Outstanding Citizen Award. He was named a Detroit Urban League "Distinguished Warrior" and was inducted into the International Heritage Hall of Fame. He holds an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Morehouse College.

In reflecting on his achievements, Johnson said, "I always wanted to be a valuable person, not an 'important person.'"