Old MCC Building Gets a New Name in Recognition of J&J Philanthropy

A prosaically-named building at Middlesex County College (MCC) has gotten a new name in honor of the man whose foundation raised $1.5 million for the school

MCC's Technical Services Building was renamed in a ceremony Sept. 23 for Willard T. C. Johnson of the Johnson & Johnson family. Betty Wold Johnson, the mother of 'Billy' as Willard T. C. Johnson was known to friends and family, was at the ceremony to acknowledge the award on behalf of the foundation she chairs which is named after her late son.

Billy Johnson was only 23 years old in 1975 when he died in a motorcycle accident. When his will was opened, his family discovered he wanted his inheritance from the vast Johnson & Johnson family fortune to be used to help the poor and to support education.

The Willard T. C. Johnson Foundation was the result of his family following his last wishes.

A million dollar donation to the school in 2009 from the foundation helped countless MCC students attend the school. Half of that donation was issued as a challenge for the MCC Foundation to meet; in total, the Willard T. C. Johnson Foundation's efforts raised $1.5 million for the college.

At the ceremony, Mrs. Johnson lovingly spoke of her late son and his concern for those less fortunate.

The building renamed after Billy Johnson, formerly known as the Technical Services Center, houses the school's Department of Engineering Technologies, classrooms, engineering labs, faculty offices, and several administrative offices.

The $1.5 million derived from the Billy Johnson Foundation's efforts isn't all the Johnson family has done for Middlesex. Mrs. Johnson’s contributions to the college have included personal gifts as well as funding through her foundation. The support, school officials said, has been instrumental in allowing thousands of students to attend Middlesex County College.

Middlesex College President Joann La Perla-Morales thanked Mrs. Johnson at the ceremony for her longstanding support of the college.

“In these economic challenging times, philanthropic support is needed more than ever before,” Dr. La Perla-Morales said. “It is not an exaggeration to say that the Willard T.C. Johnson Foundation, under the leadership of its chairman Mrs. Betty Wold Johnson, has been our single most generous donor."

The college president said that in one way or another, every one of MCC's 47,000 alumni "have been touched in some way by your generosity.”

Mrs. Johnson was also named as the recipient of the 2011 L’Hommedieu Award, a humanitarian award named after the founding member of MCC's Board of Trustees. 

“It is no exaggeration to say that [Mrs. Johnson's] philanthropy has enriched the lives of hundreds of thousands – perhaps millions – of Americans,” said Thomas Tighe, vice chairman of the college's Board of Trustees.

Mrs. Johnson, a Hopewell resident, is the widow of Robert Wood Johnson III and mother of Robert Wood Johnson IV, the owner of the New York Jets football team.