Rear Admiral Michael W. Johnson
Chief Dental Officer, USPHS
RDML Michael Windsor Johnson was appointed by the Surgeon General of the United States Public Health Service to serve as the 21st Chief Professional Officer for the Dental Category. As the Chief Professional Officer, RDML Johnson advises the Office of the Surgeon General and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on the recruitment, assignment, deployment, retention, and career development of oral health professionals.
RDML Johnson started his professional career in the private sector. Eight years later he received his commission with the United States Public Health Service in January 2000. The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) Correctional Complex in Butner, North Carolina was his first assignment. During his four-year tour with the BOP, he completed the Health Policy and Management Executive Master of Public Health program from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in May 2004. He was selected the same year to be the Indian Health Service (IHS) Chief Dental Officer for the Reno Sparks Indian Colony in Reno, Nevada. As CDO, he expedited an increase in oral health care services and improved oral health outcomes for the community. RDML Johnson returned to the BOP in February 2006 as the Staff Program Management Officer to the National Chief Dentist headquartered in Washington, DC. While stationed in Central Office, he completed a residency specialty training in Dental Public Health at the National Dental Institute of Dental Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) at the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland. During RDML Johnson’s training experience, he constructed two research projects and was the principal investigator. The research projects focused on the Development of a Clinical Case Definition for the Effect of Methamphetamine on Oral Health and A Comparative Feasibility Study to Assess the Prevalence and Severity of Dental Caries in Incarcerated People who Abuse Methamphetamine.
Upon completion of the NIDCR residency, RDML Johnson was selected in February 2009 for a multifaceted executive role as the BOP Regional Chief Dentist (RCD) overseeing the west coast. As RCD, he was responsible for the dental clinic operation of nineteen Bureau of Prisons facilities, a complement of more than seventy employees, and the custody and care of twenty-three thousand incarcerated individuals.
In May 2020 RDML Johnson was selected for the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) National Chief Dental Officer (CDO) position. As the BOP National CDO, he supervises 400 BOP healthcare professionals, including over 90 U.S. Public Health Service Officers spread across 122 institutions, 6 regional offices and Central Office. The BOP Oral Health Care program provides oral health care for over 157,739 federal incarcerated individuals across the United States and its territories. RDML Johnson oversees developing policy, providing direction, supervision, and expert advice in an area of correctional specialty for dental programs in prisons. He is also responsible for short term and long-term strategic planning including the evaluation of scope of dental care provision, staffing availability, and funding. In addition to RDML Johnson’s BOP duties, he serves as the American Dental Association representative on the Board of Directors of the National Commission on Correctional Healthcare.
RDML Johnson holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Life Science at Indiana State University and received his dental degree from Howard University College of Dentistry. He completed a General Practice Residency at Dayton Veterans Administration Medical Center in Dayton, OH. RDML Johnson is currently enrolled in the Doctor in Public Health Leadership (DrPH) program at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Michael Windsor Johnson, D.D.S., M.P.H.
Chief Dental Officer, USPHS
Previous Chief Dental Officers
