Following graduate study at North Carolina State University, Johnston returned to Davis in 1963 as a faculty member. Although officially retired, Professor Emeritus Johnston has been recalled to continue his funded research program and teach graduate and undergraduate courses. Professor Johnston has maintained a productive research program throughout his career, making important contributions in production economics, natural resources economics, and public policy. His research topics have often related to his continued interest in farming, ranching, and natural resources, and have included notable and innovative collaborative work with both economists and professionals with widely disparate interests and expertise. A rich understanding of the institutions in which economic decisions occur is another hallmark of Johnston's research.
Students share in Johnston's examination of real-world phenomena.
A second generation of U.C. Davis students now accompanies him on subject farm visits as part of his farm and rural resources appraisal course, while others have learned about natural resource use problems in his resource and environmental policy analysis courses. His university service has been sustained and highly meritorious. His administrative appointments have included chair of the department's graduate program, acting associate dean of the college of agriculture, chair of the executive committee of the Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics, and department chairman. Johnston's contributions to elevating U.C. Davis's agricultural economics program to one of the top-ranked in the nation were significant. As department chair, he guided the department through a period of growth and change during which one-third of the current faculty were hired.