Jean Nevius Johnson

Jean Nevius Johnson owes more than her education to the University of Denver. According to Jean, who graduated from the University in 1946 with a bachelor's in political science, she owes her marriage to the late Robert Merle Johnson, JD'47, to DU as well.

              "Someone arranged for us to meet on a blind date the night of a University dance," said Jean. "So DU is really the reason we met." Robert had returned to his native Denver for law school following his graduation from Yale University. Jean, also a Denver native, had to overcome one small detail when it came to her relationship with Robert. "Bob went to East High School and I went to South but I didn't hold that against him for long," said Jean.

              Despite such differences, Jean and Robert--who worked as a bond attorney for Sherman & Howard, Denver's oldest law firm--shared a love of DU football, which was discontinued in 1960. "Bob would always take the lawyers applying for jobs at the firm out to a DU football game," said Jean. "He used to joke that if they didn't go to a game with him, they wouldn't be hired. One of our choice possessions is a piece of the seat that used to give us splinters watching the games."

              In 1996, Jean honored her husband by creating the Robert Merle Johnson Scholarship to support outstanding DU Law students in financial need. "I'd like to give other people the same opportunities that Bob had," she said. "He felt he owed the College of Law for the scholarship he received."

              While her husband never got to see the new Frank H. Ricketson Law Building, Jean knows Robert would like it as much as she does. "A member of my extended family who was an architect before becoming a lawyer toured the new law building and was highly impressed," said Jean. "I think that says something coming from someone who's both an architect and a lawyer. The new facility is tremendous."