Herald “Chip” Johnson is a south side, Chicago-based native from the West Chesterfield community who began his formal education at the Burnside Elementary School, later attending Lindblom Technical High School and graduating from the Mendel Catholic High School. He began his undergraduate studies in Music Performance at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee where he toured for three years with the acclaimed GRAMMY Award winning Fisk Jubilee Singers under the direction of Professor Matthew Kennedy.  He received his Bachelor of Arts in Music Performance at Roosevelt University in Chicago; a Master of Education degree from DePaul University; a Master in Music Education degree (Choral Conducting) from VanderCook College of Music (Chicago); a Certificate of Advanced Studies in Curriculum and Administration from National Louis University, where he also completed his Doctorate degree by successfully defending his dissertation entitled, “Understanding a Familial Mentorship Model in Cultivation of Leaders Who Serve”.

Dr. Johnson’s passion for education afforded him opportunities to begin his teaching career at Crane Tech High School in 1994, later moving to John Hope College Prep High School where he taught for 14 years. In 2009, he began serving as the Assistant Principal of the Matteson Elementary School (SD162), and later became the founding Director of the Southland College Prep Charter High School (Richton Park, Illinois). In 2012, he returned to Chicago Public Schools to serve as Deputy Chief of Schools for the North/Northwest High School Network, the Garfield Humboldt Elementary School Network, and later became Chief of Schools for Network 6, managing 7 high schools and 31 elementary schools in the central part of the school district.

In June 2021, Dr. Johnson retired from Chicago Public Schools as the Chief Officer for the Office of Family and Community Engagement in Education (FACE2) where he managed the Office of Local School Council Relations, a team of thirteen FACE managers, the Office of Faith Based Initiatives, nine Community Action Councils, the Volunteer department, and thirteen Parent University programs across the District. In August 2021, he returned home to the school that he holds close to his heart, Southland College Prep Charter High School where he currently serves as the Chief of Staff to CEO Dr. Blondean Y. Davis. 

Dr. Johnson is a faithful member of the Apostolic Church of God where he served as the Minister of Music under the late Bishop Arthur M. Brazier and Dr. Byron T. Brazier. He currently serves as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees at the VanderCook College of Music on the campus of the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT). 

Chip Johnson lives by the scripture, “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me” and his motto, ”I am the thinker who thinks the thoughts, that makes the things”!