Jennifer Johnson ’98, warehouse performance director at PepsiCo, is helping future Aggie engineers through a newly established scholarship for chemical engineering graduate students.
Johnson’s journey began as a first-generation college student, inspired to attend Texas A&M University after participating in a summer camp on campus.
“Since it was the first university I had ever attended, it made quite an impression on me,” she said.
Throughout college, Johnson balanced coursework and employment to fund her education. She recalls a challenging time in her senior year when faculty support made all the difference.
“It was a struggle, so I reached out to Dr. Daniel T. Hansen to ask if he knew of any jobs that would be less disruptive,” she said. “He helped me secure a role at Heat Transfer Research Institute, testing software. This gave me the time to focus on my classes, which resulted in all A’s.”
Having once relied on student loans, Johnson knows firsthand the financial demands students face.
“I want to be able to help with some of the burden,” Johnson said. “I hope this gift will allow Texas A&M to recruit the best graduate students and support groundbreaking research.”
After graduation, Johnson has remained deeply connected to Aggie culture.
“I try to attend a football game or two per year; we take our RV to campus and tailgate with friends,” she said. “I am also a member of the chemical engineering advisory board and attend two meetings a year in person in an effort to offer support where time permits.”
With more than 25 years at PepsiCo, Johnson has held diverse roles, ranging from project engineering to global network optimization in Latin America and IT transformation projects.
“I am intrigued by doing things that haven't been done before and using technology to work smarter, not harder,” she said. “I was a college hire and have been with the same company ever since, but I’ve had many diverse opportunities.”
Through her scholarship, Johnson is proud to support graduate students in the chemical engineering department and hopes her assistance will enable others to succeed as she did at Texas A&M.
