Johnson was born in Harlan, Iowa. "Kij" is an abbreviation of her initials. She has been a director of the Center for the Study of Science Fiction at the University of Kansas, which James Gunn established. She has won a number of awards, including the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award, the World Fantasy Award, a Nebula, and the Hugo Award. This article is a stub relating to real-world information such as a performer, author, novel, magazine, or other production material. You can help Memory Alpha by fixing it.