W. R. Johnson

W. R. Johnson
Photographed in 1984
Born(1933-07-09)July 9, 1933
Trinidad, Colorado, United States
DiedApril 13, 2024(2024-04-13) (aged 90)
Academic background
Alma materUniversity of California, Berkeley
Academic work
DisciplineClassical studies
Sub-disciplineLatin poetry
Institutions
Notable worksDarkness Visible: A Study of Vergil's Aeneid (1976)

Walter Ralph Johnson (July 9, 1933 – April 13, 2024), commonly known as W. Ralph Johnson and published as W. R. Johnson, was an American classicist. He was the John Matthews Manly Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Classics at the University of Chicago from 1989 to 1998. He coined the term "Harvard School" to describe interpretations of the Aeneid as opposed to the Roman emperor Augustus and his ideology.