About the Interim Chancellor

Robert L. Johnson, MD, FAAP, was named interim chancellor of Rutgers Health effective January 1, 2026. He was appointed The Sharon and Joseph L. Muscarelle Endowed Dean of New Jersey Medical School on March 16, 2011, making him the eighth person to serve as dean of the state's oldest medical school. Prior to his appointment as dean, Dr. Johnson, a Professor of Pediatrics and Director of the Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine at the New Jersey Medical School, served as the school's interim dean, a position he held since 2005.

Dr. Johnson is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics and serves on the Advisory Committee of the Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences of the National Research Council's National Academy of Sciences. He chairs the New Jersey Governor's Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS and Related Blood Borne Pathogens and the Newark Ryan White Planning Council. Previously, Dr. Johnson served as the President of the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners; as the Chair of the US Department of Health and Human Services' Council on Graduate Medical Education; and as a member of the National Council of the National Institute of Mental Health; the NIH AIDS Research Council; and the Institute of Medicine, Health Care Services Board.

He received his BA from Alfred University in 1968 and his MD from the College of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey — now New Jersey Medical School — in 1972. With expertise in the fields of adolescent physical and mental health, adolescent HIV, adolescent violence, adolescent sexuality and family strengthening, Dr. Johnson has become a well-recognized spokesperson for the adolescent and adolescent issues. He frequently addresses local, state, national, and international audiences, and appears on television and radio. Widely published, Dr. Johnson maintains an active schedule of teaching, conducting research and treating pediatric adolescent patients at New Jersey Medical School.

Dr. Johnson chairs the Board of Deacons at Union Baptist Church in Orange, NJ, and is married to Maxine Johnson, a lifelong educator. He is the author of The Race Trap, a Harper Collins Business Book which addresses the pitfalls commonly encountered in communications across the racial divide and Strength for Their Journey, a guide for parents of African-American teens, published by Doubleday.