Rate My Professor Eric Johnson

Eric Johnson, Ph.D., is Chairperson and Professor in the Department of Biomedical & Natural Sciences at Mount St. Joseph University. He earned a B.S. from Xavier University and a Ph.D. from the University of Cincinnati. As a biophysical chemist, Johnson employs computer simulations to study protein structures, examining motions, stability, and function, especially changes upon binding drugs or small molecules. His research interests include structural biology and science writing. He teaches General Chemistry and Physical Chemistry at the university.

Johnson has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications in leading journals. His book, Anxiety and the Equation: Understanding Boltzmann’s Entropy, was published by MIT Press in 2018. Key articles include Thapa, M., Johnson, E., Rance, M. (2019), 'Effect of monovalent ion binding on molecular dynamics of the S100-family calcium-binding protein calbindin D9k,' Journal of Computational Chemistry, 40, 1936-1945; Johnson, E. (2012), 'Separability between overall and internal motion: a protein folding problem,' Proteins: Structure, Function, and Bioinformatics, 80, 2645-2651; Johnson, E. (2011), 'NMR Order Parameters Calculated in an Expanding Reference Frame: Identifying Sites of Short- and Long-Range Motion,' Journal of Biomolecular NMR, 50, 59-70; Salinas, R.K. et al. (2011), 'Ca²⁺ binding alters the interdomain flexibility between the two cytoplasmic calcium-binding domains in the Na⁺/Ca²⁺ exchanger,' Journal of Biological Chemistry, 286, 32123-32131; Johnson, E., Chazin, W.J., Rance, M. (2006), 'Effects of Calcium Binding on the Side-Chain Methyl Dynamics of Calbindin D9k: A ²H NMR Relaxation Study,' Journal of Molecular Biology, 357, 1237-1252; and Wesolowski, S.S. et al. (1998), 'Definitive Ab Initio Structure for the X²A'H₂PO Radical...,' Journal of Chemical Physics, 109, 2694-2699. He also published 'The Perils of Being Paul Ehrenfest, a Forgotten Physicist and Peerless Mentor' in the MIT Press Reader in 2019. His research has appeared in Journal of the American Chemical Society, Journal of Physical Chemistry B, and others.