What is Katie Johnson's educational background and alma mater?
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Executive summary
Katie Johnson is a name shared by multiple professionals with different educational backgrounds in the provided reporting: one Katie Johnson listed as a Harvard Law School graduate in 2014 (a White House counselor/personal secretary profile) and several others holding degrees from institutions including Cornell University (M.D. holder’s undergraduate), Utah State University (B.S. 2018), Arizona State University (M.Ed. 2015), University of Wisconsin–Madison (D.M.A. 2012), Beloit College and Vanderbilt University (B.S. and Ph.D.), and more [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]. Available sources do not mention a single, unique “Katie Johnson” tied to one definitive alma mater without additional identifiers [1] [7] [2].
1. Name collision: a commonplace problem with “Katie Johnson”
“Katie Johnson” appears in publicly available profiles across law, medicine, academia, music and athletics; the Wikipedia entry for a White House staffer says she graduated from Harvard Law School in 2014 (the page identifies her White House role and Harvard Law as her law degree) while independent university and clinic sites list different Katie Johnsons with separate degrees and alma maters [1] [7] [2]. This shows the risk of conflating people who share a common name when a query lacks context [1] [7] [2].
2. The White House/OBM Katie Johnson: Harvard Law School
A Wikipedia profile for “Katie Johnson (secretary)” reports she returned to the White House as a Counselor in the Office of Management and Budget and “graduated from Harvard Law School in 2014” [1]. That source ties her White House service to a Harvard Law credential but is a single entry among many Katie Johnson records in the search results [1].
3. Academia and arts: multiple Katie Johnsons with graduate degrees
Miami University lists a Katie Johnson, Ph.D., as a faculty member in the College of Arts and Science—confirming a doctoral-level academic with the same name [7]. The University of Tennessee profile for Katie Johnson-Webb documents a Katie who completed a Doctor of Musical Arts at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 2012 [5]. Xavier University’s associate provost profile describes a Katie Johnson who earned a Ph.D. in Molecular Physiology and Biophysics at Vanderbilt and a B.S. from Beloit College [6].
4. Medicine and allied health: different undergrad and training paths
Mayo Clinic’s biography for Katie L. Johnson, M.D., states she completed undergraduate studies at Cornell University, medical school and pediatric residency at Mayo Clinic, and a fellowship at the University of Washington—again a distinct Katie Johnson with a medical trajectory [2]. Other profiles show health or education-focused Katie Johnsons with credentials such as a B.S. in athletic training from Long Beach State and a master’s from Arizona State [4].
5. K–12 teachers, university staff and athletics: local alma maters
Local school and college web pages identify additional Katie Johnsons with bachelor’s or master’s degrees from institutions like Utah State University, Towson University, and Black Hawk College [3] [8] [9]. Athletic roster and club sites list a Katie Johnson who played college soccer at USC [10] [4]. These sources show the name’s prevalence across many educational backgrounds [3] [4] [10].
6. What this means for your query — seek identifying details
Because multiple people named Katie Johnson hold different degrees and alma maters in these sources, a firm answer requires an identifier: job title, location, sector, or timeframe. The Harvard Law School credential specifically appears tied to the White House/OBM counselor profile [1]; Cornell undergrad + Mayo training is specific to Katie L. Johnson, M.D. [2]; and Ph.D. and music doctorates appear on university faculty pages [7] [5]. Without which Katie Johnson you mean, sources cannot converge on a single alma mater [1] [7] [2].
7. Sources, reliability and implicit agendas
The strongest direct education statements come from institutional profiles (Mayo Clinic, university directories) and Wikipedia. Institutional pages are primary or near-primary records for employees and faculty; Wikipedia summarises public reporting but can contain errors if not cross-checked [2] [7] [1]. Institutional profiles reflect the organization’s interest in credential transparency; Wikipedia aggregates but may prioritize broad accessibility over provenance [1] [7] [2].
If you tell me which Katie Johnson you mean (job, city, organization or a role), I will pull the precise alma mater cited in the matching source above [1] [7] [2].