The Del Johnson Papers span the period of Delmar R. Johnson’s tenure as Director of University Computing Services (1982–2003) and later as Director of Administrative and Research Computing at South Dakota State University (2003–2012). The collection documents Johnson’s leadership and involvement in the planning, development, and administration of computing infrastructure and services across the university.
The records primarily consist of extensive correspondence, committee files, planning documents, and meeting minutes. Topics include computer capacity and configuration planning, instructional computing initiatives, university-wide technology planning, and the multi-phase network infrastructure rebuild project around 2000. Johnson’s work with campus and statewide advisory councils, including the Computer User’s Advisory Council (CUAC), is also well documented. The collection reflects Johnson’s collaborative efforts with university administrators, academic departments, and external consultants such as Elert and Associates and IBM.
Of particular significance are materials related to strategic technology initiatives, including long-term planning for instructional computing, mainframe consolidation, and integration of computing into research and extension services. The collection also provides historical insight into SDSU's evolving IT governance, security policies, and infrastructure across academic units.
