Tonya Johnson
B.S. ’75 – Mathematics, M.S. ’76 – Statistics
Former technology executive Tanya Johnson grew up in Duncan, Oklahoma, and earned a bachelor’s degree from Oklahoma State University in mathematics in 1975. She added a master’s in statistics to her resume — also from OSU — in 1976.
Upon graduation, Tanya joined the statistical department of the University of Texas
Medical Branch in Galveston, where she worked on medical research projects and collaborated
with organizations such as Shriner Burns. Tanya moved to Boston in 1978 and worked
at several cutting-edge software engineering companies, including Digital Equipment
Corporation and Wang Laboratories. At Wang Laboratories, Tanya was the General Manager
for Wang Office, one of the first electronic messaging products.
In 1992, Tanya relocated to the Bay Area, leading product and engineering groups at
Oracle Corporation and Clarify. As a senior executive and officer at Clarify, Tanya
played a crucial role in building a successful customer relationship management (CRM)
software business that was eventually sold to Nortel Networks. The multi-billion dollar
sale of the CRM business in 2000 was the highest price paid for a software company
at that time. In addition to her many professional accomplishments, Tanya also co-founded
and served as CEO of HIREarci, a skills assessment platform for recruiters, and has
advised technology startups focused on the financial space.
Since retiring, Tanya enjoys traveling with her husband and spending more time with
her family, especially her grandkids.