Biography
Johnson was born in Hickory, Mississippi on April 8, 1946, but spent almost all of his childhood in Freeport, Illinois. He was the ninth of 10 children born to Edna and Archie Johnson. Johnson graduated from Freeport High School in 1964. He studied history at the University of Illinois and graduated in 1968 with a bachelor's degree. While at the University of Illinois, Johnson was a member of the Beta chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. He earned a master's degree in International Affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.
For 33 years from 1969-2002 he was married to Sheila Johnson. Together they founded the entertainment network BET which sold the company to Viacom in 2001. They have two children: daughter Paige Johnson (b. 1986), and son Brett Johnson (b. 1990).
Read more about this topic: Robert L. Johnson
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