Kathy Johnson, a Fresno State alumna and administrator, is a builder – figuratively and literally.
Johnson is one of four women in leadership roles building the largest addition to the Fresno State campus: the new Henry Madden Library. She’s the manager on the $105-million project.
The four-story, state-of-the-art structure will be the largest library in the California State University system when it is completed late this year and occupied in 2009.
Johnson has worked nearly two decades at Fresno State, starting as a secretary at the front desk and moving up to be associate director of planning and administration for the Facilities Management department.
She earned a master’s degree in public administration from Fresno State in 2003. Johnson says her experience as a student inspired her to work the early mornings and late nights necessary on the library project because she knows firsthand that the facility needs improvement.
Johnson notes that while women excel in construction these days, they have not always been welcome in the industry. In the 1990s, she wouldn’t paint her nails and felt like she had to wear slacks to be accepted on the job. Today, Johnson feels free to wear business suits, fashionable high-heeled boots and hoop earrings.
“I can just be myself,” she says.
And being herself also illustrates her personal desire to give back to the university.
“Fresno State provided me a great education,” Johnson says, “and my job here allows me to contribute to this great school in a very tangible way.”
