Anna Johnson, professor in animal science, is the recipient of the faculty 2025 Community Excellence Award from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Iowa State University. She leads a world-recognized research, extension and teaching program, is the first person to hold the Tyrone D. Artz, M.D. Chair for Faculty Excellence in Animal Science, and serves on impactful institutional, state, national and international committees.
The mission of Johnson’s program is to develop sound scientific measures for animal welfare through a multidisciplinary approach using physiology, immunology, neuroscience, cognitive abilities, behavior and performance, and health. The findings can be introduced and applied back to current farming production practices to enhance farm animal welfare and to increase performance and health.
Johnson develops practical information and tools that can be used by producers, animal caretakers and veterinarians to provide optimal farm animal welfare. With her committee work, she also strives to develop practical information and tools that can be used by the department for optimal health and welfare of students and colleagues.
Johnson’s consistent and high-quality mentorship of many undergraduate and graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and faculty is clearly demonstrated over her career. She has mentored undergraduates through individual projects, poster presentations and Science with Practice. She has supported four assistant professors with their promotion to associate professor, and one junior lecturer’s promotion to the rank of senior lecturer. Also, her mentoring reputation has resulted in one assistant professor with veterinary diagnostic and production animal medicine seeking her out to mentor his career trajectory.
As the Artz Chair, Johnson has invested funds into two core goals: building a welcoming environment for all students in the animal science department and guiding them toward their career goals. She created opportunities for peer mentoring and provided accessible academic support, which led the department to open an Animal Science Student Help Room in fall 2023. A student stated, “I know that my experience as a student, educator and young professional was enabled and enriched by her mentorship, and for that, I am forever grateful.”
Johnson has also chaired the department’s governance committee since 2022. Under her guidance, the entire governance document is under review to ensure it is comprehensive, in adherence with college and university policies, and accurately reflects current practices. The amendments have been extensive and have focused on recruitment, position responsibility statement, annual review, three-year probationary review, promotion, promotion and tenure, and seven-year review. In addition, Johnson realized that the departmental governance document was missing mentoring and so a new section was written. A colleague stated, “Dr. Johnson is a passionate, caring and dedicated individual who really wants to enhance and enrich the undergraduate and graduate student experience.”