He was appointed to an associate professorship at Harvard in 1996 and has taught several courses here on Chinese foreign policy, nuclear learning and international relations.
Johnston received a MacArthur Fellowship in international peace and security in 1991 and is a member of the National Committee on US-China Relations, among other committees.
Perry says she believes Johnston's "serious devotion to teaching and exemplary teaching record" will continue to be invaluable assets to his students.
MacFarquhar agreed that Johnston has clearly shown over the last several years that he is "a first-class undergraduate and graduate teacher...and that is very important to the department."
Only one other professor, Andrew Moravcsik, was granted tenure this year in the government department. Moravcsik works primarily in the field of international political economy.
Johnston is currently a visiting scholar at Stanford and is working on his second book, which will test models of socialization in Chinese arms control and international environment policies.