Awards & Scholarships

Hjalmar W. Johnson began his career in steel in 1915, after graduation from High School, working in the blast furnace department of Illinois Steel Co. at Joliet, which was a part of the United States Steel Corporation. He left to attend the University of Illinois, receiving a B.S. degree in Engineering in 1922. Following this, he joined South Works, Illinois Steel Co., attaining the level of general foreman of three blast furnaces.

On November 15, 1929, he joined Inland Steel Co. as assistant superintendent of blast furnaces. Less than a year later, he was made superintendent of blast furnaces and, in 1942, assistant general superintendent of Inland's Indiana Harbor Works. During this time he was prominently identified with the construction of Defense Plant Coke Plants and blast furnaces during World War II. In 1946 he was appointed staff assistant to the president and, in 1949, was elected vice-president in charge of steel manufacturing. In 1954 he was elected a director as well.

Mr. Johnson is a former Director of AIME of which he has been a Member since 1922. He is also a member of the American Iron and Steel Institute, a director of the Indiana State Chamber of Commerce, Friends of the Land, and Vice-President of Western Society of Engineers. In 1933 he received the J. E. Johnson, Jr., Award from AIME, and, in 1941, the A.I.S.I. Medal. In June 1957 he received an honorary Doctor of Engineering degree from the Michigan College of Mining and Technology.

Hjalmar Johnson is considered one of the country's leading authorities on blast furnace technique and is the author of numerous technical papers on the steel industry.