Johnson's selection could be announced as early as today after the Hawaii Tourism Authority board votes on the matter. Johnson was the clear front-runner, according to people familiar with the situation who asked not to be identified because the decision will not be final until the tourism authority board votes.

If selected, Johnson will head the $56 million state agency charged with insuring that Hawai'i's largest industry continues to grow. The tourism authority faces major challenges, including helping the travel industry recover from the continuing drop in arrivals since Sept. 11 and improve its image after a state audit that concluded it was mismanaging its budget and failing to adequately account for how the money was being used.

Before working at the medical school, Johnson was executive director of The Nature Conservancy of Hawai'i until July 2001. He has also served as director of the state Department of Transportation. Before that, he headed the Hawai'i Community Development Authority.

"Rex expanded the Conservancy's reach in hard economic times and strengthened its position as the state's leading private conservation organization," said Conservancy chairman Jeff Watanabe when Johnson left the organization.