Tod Johnson, (TPR 1966, MSIA 1967, T)

Tod Johnson was the executive chairman of The NPD Group, and following its sale, serves as chair of the board.

From 1971, he grew the company from a small U.S. market research provider to a global leader in marketing information and advisory services, serving more than 20 industries. Since selling NPD, Johnson has set up Duo Partners, which invests in and supportsdisruptive marketing information startups. He is also the President and CEO of the board of the Metropolitan Opera.

Quick to credit Carnegie Mellon University for transforming both his professional and personal life, Johnson has demonstrated his gratitude in multiple ways.

Among many efforts, in 2018, he made the university's largest gift to scholarships in its history, contributing $50 million.

He is the longest serving voting member and vice chair of the CMU Board of Trustees, chaired a presidential search committee as well as the Centennial Campaign, was a Tepper School of Business class agent, and served on numerous other advisory boards and committees.

Johnson came to Carnegie Tech to study graphic arts management but discovered his passion for mathematically-driven market research. While on campus, Johnson met his future wife Cindy (A 1968) and was a student leader, serving as VP of the Student Senate, yearbook editor, and fraternity officer.

He began his career under the mentorship of CMU alumnus and professor Al Kuehn, running the Chicago office of Kuehn’s company, Management Science Associates. He took on ownership of NPD a few years later.

Johnson received CMU’s 2019 Founders Medal for his outstanding dedication and service to Carnegie Mellon and extraordinary achievement in his career and was previously honored with the Tepper School’s Lifetime Achievement Award and CMU Alumni Association’s 1990 Alumni Service Award.