In a rare public appearance, the Johnson family — billionaire philanthropists and Fidelity mutual fund scions — were feted by the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce last night, inducted into the Academy of Distinguished Bostonians for their century of contributions to the community.
Abigail Johnson, 50, accepted the honor by giving a rousing tribute to her father, 81-year-old Edward “Ned” Johnson III, with whom she runs and owns Fidelity Investments.
“He is a man consumed with a passion for fixing things,” she said. “Obsessed with continuous improvement.”
The Milton heiress recalled her father’s focus on customer service often extending into dinner time when she was a child.
“Whether he is tinkering with the fine-tuning of things to get them just right or overseeing an overhaul … Ned Johnson is on the case,” she said.
The Johnson family drew a standing ovation from the crowd at the Boston Convention Exhibition Center, with former Fidelity chief operating officer Bob Reynolds, who left to head Putnam Investments — among the first to rise.
Many noted the Johnson family’s low profile.
“The Johnson family has established a tradition of leadership quietly but effectively. With the emphasis being on quietly,” said Chamber CEO Paul Guzzi.
The elder Johnson alluded to a renewed focus in the medical field on the part of Fidelity, but spoke mostly generally about “building a few little bits and pieces.”
“The city does a good job of taking advantage of what their natural talents are,” the elder Johnson said before his daughter’s speech.
Mayor Thomas M. Menino recalled the Johnson family’s little-known shepherding of the Dearborn Middle School in Roxbury, while biographer Walter Isaacson, who gave the keynote address, spoke of the historic figures he has profiled including Apple founder Steve Jobs.
Jobs had “a spiritual sense that our worth … is not what we take out of this world, but it comes from what we put back into this world,” Isaacson said. “This is so true of the Johnson family.”