Head of housing and dining Rick Johnson to step down at end of academic year

Rick Johnson, associate vice president of student affairs for Housing, Dining and Residence Life, will retire at the end of the academic year—according to an email from Larry Moneta, vice president for student affairs.

Moneta sent a message to student affairs staff Monday with the news. Johnson has led HDRL since January 2011, and he has more than 35 years of experience with managing housing and dining in higher education and in the hotel industry. He previously served as the director of housing and dining at Virginia Tech.

"He’s had a hand in so many critical projects, from the overall redesign of dining at Duke to the West Union project, renovations to many of our residence halls and planning for several new construction projects to replace Central Campus," Moneta wrote in the email.

Moneta noted that he will share future plans for HDRL leadership at a future date.

"Rick has lead a wonderful team in HDRL, and his very high standards for student support and environmental conditions to serve them have influenced all we do throughout student affairs," Moneta wrote. "His work at Duke will have impact for decades to come and the entire Duke community has benefited greatly from his presence."