Hootie Johnson
| Hootie Johnson | |
|---|---|
| Born |
William Woodward Johnson February 16, 1931 Augusta, Georgia, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of South Carolina |
| Occupation | businessman, banker |
| Known for | Former chairman of the Bank of America executive committee, Augusta National Golf Club |
William Woodward "Hootie" Johnson (born February 16, 1931) is retired chairman of the executive committee at Bank of America, member of the South Carolina Business Hall of Fame, and former chairman of Augusta National Golf Club.
Johnson was born to Dewey H. and Mabel (née Woodward) Johnson, in 1931 at Augusta, Georgia and grew up in Greenwood, South Carolina, attending Greenwood High School. He attended the University of South Carolina on a football scholarship.
Johnson is married to Pierrine Johnson and has four daughters; Marie, Jennifer, Sally and Jane and ten grandchildren.
After graduating, Johnson returned home and worked with his father at the Bank of Greenwood, which eventually evolved into the State Bank and Trust Company, and subsequently was renamed Bankers Trust of South Carolina in 1969. By 1965, Johnson had assumed control of the bank, and under his leadership, Bankers Trust of South Carolina rose from obscurity to become a high-performance, widely respected bank. Johnson now serves as chairman of the executive committee at Bank of America, and is also a director of the company. He also serves on the boards of Duke Power, Liberty Corporation, and Alltel.
As former chairman and current "Chairman Emeritus" of Augusta National Golf Club, Johnson held the chairmanship from 1998–2006 and directed two significant overhauls of the golf course, allowed 18-hole network television coverage of the tournament for the first time, and made significant changes in Masters qualifying procedures. He was succeeded by Billy Payne.
Johnson is widely known for a disagreement beginning in 2002 with Martha Burk, then chairwoman of the Washington-based National Council of Women's Organizations, over admission of female members to Augusta National. Burk contended that hosting the Masters Tournament at a male-only club, constituted sexism because 15% of the club's membership were CEO's, many of them Fortune 500 CEO's. Johnson characterized Burk's approach as "offensive and coercive", and despite efforts to conflate the issue with sexism and civil rights, Johnson maintained the issue had to do with the rights of any private club.
...
Wikipedia