David C. Johnston earned his Ph.D. in Solid State Physics from the University of California at San Diego under Prof. Bernd T. Matthias in 1975 and was a research scientist there until 1978. He was a member of the research staff of the Corporate Research Laboratories of the Exxon Research and Engineering Company from 1978 to 1987. He was then a Professor at Iowa State University and a Senior Physicist at Ames Laboratory from 1987 to 2000 and was named a Distinguished Professor in 2000. He is a Fellow and Outstanding Referee of the American Physical Society.