Cornell president Deane Waldo Malott started the University Art Museum in 1953. The A. D. White House was changed to hold Cornell's art collections. The current museum was built in 1973. It is named after Herbert Fisk Johnson, Jr.. Johnson was head of S.C. Johnson & Sons of Racine, Wisconsin ("Johnson Wax"). He was a former member of the university's Board of Trustees. He graduated in 1922. His son also served as a trustee.