William "Bill" Dean Johnson (born January 9, 1954) is the Chairman, President, and CEO of Progress Energy

Progress Energy Inc

Progress Energy , headquartered in Raleigh, N.C., is a Fortune 500 energy company with more than 21,000 megawatts of generation capacity and $9 billion in annual revenues. Progress Energy includes two major electric utilities that serve approximately 3.1 million customers in the Carolinas and...

.

Early life and career

Johnson graduated from Duke University

Duke University

Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...

 summa cum laude with a bachelor degree in history. He also obtained a law degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...

 in 1982. After graduating, Johnson served as a law clerk on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He later worked as a partner in the Raleigh, North Carolina

Raleigh, North Carolina

Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...

 office of Hunton & Williams

Hunton & Williams

Founded in 1901, Hunton & Williams LLP is a US law firm that employs more than 800 lawyers. It has been called "one of the most well-connected legal and lobbying firms in DC." The firm was founded in Richmond, Virginia and has 18 other offices throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. In...

. Johnson joined Progress Energy precursor, Carolina Power & Light

Carolina Power & Light

Carolina Power & Light was an electrical generation, transmission, and distribution utility based in Raleigh, North Carolina. The company was founded on July 13, 1908 as the result of the merger and buyout of numerous small, private, and financial distressed utilities across the state...

in 1995. He became President of Progress Energy in 2005, and Chairman and CEO in 2007.