(Story Courtesy of MIT Athletics) 

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Ken Johnson Jr., former director of communications, promotions, and marketing in the MIT Department of Athletics, will be posthumously honored by College Sports Communicators (CSC) with the organization's Lifetime Achievement Award.

Well-known and respected in the sports information and athletics communications field, Johnson was in his 26th year in the profession and his eighth season at MIT when he passed away in March 2024. He was 47 years old. 

CSC Lifetime Achievement Awards are presented to members for distinguished career service who have served at least 25 years in the profession and who are retiring, have retired, or are leaving the athletic communications profession.

Johnson was an active contributor to CSC and the athletics communication profession during his distinguished career in collegiate athletics. He was elected to the D3SIDA Board of Directors in the summer of 2019 and served as the Region 1 representative from 2019 to 2021. In that role, he was also a member of the D3SIDA Divisional Cabinet within the College Sports Communicators governance. Johnson served as the First Vice-President of the Eastern Athletic Communications Association (East-Comm) and was in his second year of a four-year term on the East-Comm Executive Board. 

Johnson was honored by the College Sports Communicators for his 25-year career in the field in 2023. Johnson was also the second vice president of the Eastern Athletic Communications Association and the recipient of the 2019 U.S. Track and Field and Cross-Country Coaches Association Excellence in Communications Award for NCAA Division III Track and Field.

Before he arrived at MIT, Johnson served as the Assistant Director of Athletics for Communications at Assumption University for five years. He was previously the Sports Information Director at Manhattanville College, the University of Bridgeport, and Saint Anselm College, and began his career as an intern at Brown University.

All of the 2026 CSC special award winners will be honored at CSC's 69th annual convention, #CSCUnite26, from June 7-10 at Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada. The convention is held in conjunction with NACDA and Affiliates Convention Week.

About the NEWMAC

The NEWMAC is an association of 12 selective academic institutions: Babson College, Clark University, U.S Coast Guard Academy, Emerson College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mount Holyoke College, Salve Regina University, Smith College, Springfield College, Wellesley College, Wheaton College, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute, that are committed to providing high quality competitive athletic opportunities for student-athletes within an educational and respectful environment that embodies the NCAA Division III Philosophy. The conference also partners with eight Associate Members: Brandeis University (Women's Lacrosse, 2026-2027), New York University (Men's Volleyball, 2026-2027), Norwich University (Football), Simmons College (Rowing), SUNY Maritime College (Football), SUNY New Paltz (Men's Volleyball, 2026-2027), U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (Football), and Vassar College (Men's Volleyball, 2026-2027), while sponsoring 20 sports.