Toni Johnson

The Kansas University community is mourning two professors who died over the winter break.

Toni Johnson, associate professor of social welfare, died Jan. 7 in Austin, Texas. She was 59. Johnson had worked at KU since 2005, according to a KU news release. Her field of study was children’s mental health.

“Toni was a stalwart advocate for social justice,” Social Welfare Dean Paul Smokowski wrote in a statement to the school. “Her research centered on vulnerable populations, such as offenders, families of offenders, and children of prisoners. She sought to design and evaluate programs, such as child asset accounts, meant to help disadvantaged families move out of poverty.”

Services for Johnson were held in Texas, according to her obituary.

Toni Johnson

Patricia Howard, who had worked at KU since 1983, died Dec. 16. She was 64. Howard was a professor and vice chair in the Department of Pharmacy Practice, held a joint appointment as professor of cardiovascular medicine at KU Medical Center, and was a board-certified pharmacotherapy specialist, according to a KU news release.

“She entered the pharmacy field at a time when it was rare for women to be in the cardiology area. She had to be tough and at the top of her game at all times, because she was being judged by some on a different scale,” Pharmacy Dean Ken Audus said, in the release. “She met and exceeded those elevated standards.”

Howard died of pancreatic cancer, according to her obituary.

Patricia Howard

• I’m the Journal-World’s KU and higher ed reporter. See all the newspaper’s KU coverage here. Reach me by email at sshepherd@ljworld.com, by phone at 832-7187, on Twitter @saramarieshep or via Facebook at Facebook.com/SaraShepherdNews.