Black History Month - Showcasing Product Leader Mr. Lonnie Johnson

BPMA strongly recognizes the need to become more inclusive and diverse. Read more about our diversity efforts here. As part of the continued celebration of the Black History Month, BPMA would like to highlight yet another amazing leader, Mr. Lonnie Johnson, whose product contributions have left a positive impact on billions of lives worldwide.

An American inventor with more than 100 patents in his name, Lonnie Johnson revolutionized the toy water gun industry by inventing the original Super Soaker in 1989. He followed this up by inventing what became the Nerf Gun in the 90’s. This gave birth to several lines of Nerf Guns, which have grown to capture around 85% share in the toy guns market since initial release. 

In 1992, Lonnie founded the Johnson Research and Development Company to inspire innovations in technology by utilizing the creativity of the toy industry. Since then, he has revolutionized multiple industries by introducing advanced energy technologies like air-powered rockets and energy storage technologies, finding their breakthrough applications in the most innovative industries such as electric vehicles and electronics. Prior to starting this venture, he also worked with the US Army and NASA on several projects such as the spacecraft system design, the stealth bomber program etc. In 2011, he became the first African-American to be inducted into Alabama’s Engineering Hall of Fame.

Lonnie Johnson is an inspiration for product managers around the world who are passionate for finding technology that has real world applications to create innovative products.