Richard W. Johnson (1929 in El Cajon, California – January 11, 2016) was an American oceanographer. He worked at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, California for over 50 years, beginning in 1956. He was a Principal Development Engineer at Scripps Institution of Oceanography Visibility Lab and Marine Physical Lab. In this position, he was the head of MPL's Atmospheric Optics Group, as well as the PI for the group for many years.