HEUG Famous: Tom Johnson Interview

Welcome to the January 2026 edition of HEUG Famous and the first feature of the new year. As we step into 2026, we are also entering an exciting new chapter for this series. HEUG Famous is transitioning from a monthly spotlight to four featured stories each year, released quarterly. This new cadence allows us to be more intentional and take a deeper look at the people who make our community so impactful.

It felt only fitting to begin the year and this new format by honoring someone who has played a meaningful role in shaping HEUG Famous from the very beginning. This quarter’s feature highlights Tom Johnson of Duke University, whose passion for community, collaboration, and storytelling helped inspire the creation of this series. From developing the original idea to supporting it every step of the way, Tom has been a constant advocate for recognizing the people behind the work.

We are proud to start 2026 by celebrating Tom, his career, and his many contributions to HEUG. His story reflects exactly what HEUG Famous was created to showcase connection, curiosity, and the belief that we are better when we learn together.

Where do you work? How long have you been there?

I work at Duke University, and have been there since October, 2003. Duke has been a fantastic employer, and a great place to work. I’ve been a member of the SISS (Student Information Services and Systems) team for my entire time at Duke, working in a several different capacities.

Are you working on-site, remotely, or hybrid? What has that experience been like for you?

I work a hybrid schedule; typically one day a week on campus, and most other days from my home office. Working remotely has been a good thing for me. I’m an early riser, and I like to be able to work on projects in the morning before I start responding to emails and signing onto Zoom calls. Also, both my current pups became part of the family during and after COVID, so neither has ever had to live without their humans around full-time.

What Student or ERP system do you work in, and what modules do you primarily work with?

I work primarily in PeopleSoft Campus Solutions. I’ve worked in the PS ecosystem in multiple capacities – starting in Financial Aid, and then expanding out into 3Cs, Query/Report writing, user security, and a variety of Enterprise Components and portal technologies. I also work with other business systems like JIRA, Confluence, and Smartsheet. I am currently learning Kuali Build.

One of the things I like most about Campus Solutions is there are so many areas of functionality to learn. PeopleSoft is a multi-faceted system, with an array of tools to help solve almost any business problem. I greatly enjoy learning new processes and then utilizing this functionality in new or novel ways.

When did you get involved with HEUG? How did that happen?

I attended the Special Interest Group in Dallas in 1998 while I was working at Southern Methodist University. This conference was a pre-curser to the Alliance and proved to be a life changing experience for me, eventually propelling me into a career as a consultant.

I first participated in a HEUG leadership role around a decade later. In 2010, I served on the Financial Aid PAG, and began to participate on the various listservs. The HEUG, and especially the Financial Aid group, is so welcoming that it was much easier to contribute than I expected. I’ve stayed active with HEUG ever since.

In what capacities have you been involved with HEUG?

I first started my involvement by participating in the various listservs administered by the HEUG. I was eventually selected to be on the Financial Aid PAG, and ultimately served as the Chair of that group. I’ve been on several special interest groups, presented at approximately a dozen Alliance conferences, and created and ran a set of regional conferences. I am currently a HEUG Ambassador and a Champion for the Business Analyst Network. I am a HEUG Hall of Fame recipient. Finally, and pertinent to this discussion, I developed the idea for HEUG Famous, and have worked with Casey over the last year to get it going.

Do you have a favorite or meaningful story regarding your time in HEUG?

I have so many HEUG related stories it is hard to pick a single one. For me, HEUG has been less about a single defining event than an ongoing, iterative experience which constantly defines the outer boundaries of what I get to do, reshapes how I think about my work, and connects me in so many ways to others in my community.

What has been your favorite conference location? Why?

I have enjoyed all of the locations, although my favorites have been the conferences held in slightly smaller venues. I loved Salt Lake City (although I almost got run over by the train), and very much enjoyed Seattle (including the rain). St Louis was really fun (I got to run by the Arch and eat St Louis barbeque), and Phoenix was great (with driverless Waymo taxis).

What is your first HEUG related memory?

I attended the Special Interest Group in Dallas in 1998 while I was working at SMU. There were seven schools at that time working with PeopleSoft on the Learning Solutions product (now Campus Solutions), and they decided to hold a conference for their users. SMU hosted the event at the Adam’s Mark hotel in Dallas. I don’t recall any sessions I attended, but I remember walking around the conference area where we had lunch, and talking with vendors.

Other conferences and other memories – I remember how long it took to walk anywhere in Las Vegas, how very big the Gaylord Hotel was in Nashville, how far the airport is from Denver, Irish pubs in Vegas, Anaheim, and New Orleans and the giant swimming pools in Orlando.

What is YOUR value proposition for HEUG?

If you invest the time, there is no organization that will repay your effort with greater dividends than the HEUG. Participate in the listservs, work on a committee, attend a conference – you will come away a more well-rounded professional, with a growing personal network of colleagues and friends who can provide assistance upon request. In addition, you can practice leadership habits and develop skills that you might not otherwise have been able to acquire.

Do you have a work-related philosophy you would like to share?

My work motto is – None of us is as smart as all of us. I first encountered this phrase in the Make Me Smart podcast, and I have adopted it as my own. One of the catalysts for my participation with HEUG is the belief that we come to better solutions if we create them together. While this can result in issues of group-think, in most circumstances, resolutions designed via the hard-work of collaboration seem to perform the best and last the longest.

What new app/technology/platform is intriguing to you right now?

Curiosity is a defining characteristic for me, so I am fascinated by all kinds of systems and technologies. Currently, I am learning about Integrations and how we can connect PeopleSoft to other systems, how to use of work centers in innovative ways, how AI can assist with parts of my job and how to create forms in Kuali Build.

As we begin a new year of HEUG Famous, we want to extend a sincere thank you to Tom Johnson for sharing his story and for being the inspiration behind this series. His dedication to collaboration, mentorship, and community building embodies what makes HEUG such a special organization.

Tom’s philosophy that none of us is as smart as all of us resonates deeply across the HEUG community and serves as a guiding principle for the work we do together. We are grateful for his leadership, his generosity, and his continued support of HEUG.

Thank you, Tom, for everything you have contributed to HEUG and to this series. We are honored to feature you as our first HEUG Famous spotlight of 2026 and look forward to sharing more stories throughout the year.

Want to connect with Tom? Visit his HEUG profile or connect with him on LinkedIn.