Education
Johnston was educated at Harvard College, where he graduated A. B. in 1958, and later took a Doctor of Philosophy at Harvard in 1965, supervised by Crane Brinton.
Johnston was educated at Harvard College, where he graduated A. B. in 1958, and later took a Doctor of Philosophy at Harvard in 1965, supervised by Crane Brinton.
He publishes his work under the name of William M. Johnston. Since retiring from the University of Massachusetts in 1999, he has been a professor emeritus and now lives in Australia. At the University of Massachusetts he was the dissertation supervisor of Roderick Stackelberg, two years his junior.
Johnston retired from his university"s history department in 1999 with the title of Professor Emeritus, shortly before completing his two-volume Encyclopedia of Monasticism (2000).
He later migrated to Australia.