Johns Hopkins this weekend raised its
Knowledge for
the World campaign goal to $3.2 billion, saying that
society faces formidable new challenges and more than ever
needs what Hopkins produces: discoveries that make a
difference.
"It's a different world than the one in which we
launched this campaign more than six years ago," said
President
William R. Brody. "Transformations in society have
created new problems for the planet, and, at the same time,
dramatic new developments in the sciences, technology, the
humanities and the arts provide new opportunities for
enhancing the quality of human life.
"This bold new goal," he said, "represents our
constant commitment at Johns Hopkins — an institution
that has always been an engine for discovery — to go
beyond discovery. We are committed also to building a
better world, to applying the knowledge we generate here to
benefit humankind," he said.
Brody, speaking Saturday night at a dinner for more
than 700 alumni and other benefactors of the university and
Johns Hopkins Medicine, also said that the campaign will be
extended through 2008. The $2 billion original goal of the
campaign was eclipsed in December 2005, two years ahead of
the original schedule.
"The campaign has been, by any measure, an outstanding
success," Brody said in an e-mail message sent to the Johns
Hopkins community. "It would be easy to stop right there.
To check off all the boxes, cross off the items on the
'to-do' list, declare 'job finished' and move on. It would
be easy. But that would be a terrible mistake," he
continued.
Brody listed new worldwide problems, such as the
global scale of health crises, the fundamentally changed
nature of international conflict and the implications of a
global economy for both nations and individuals. He also
pointed to the enormous potential of such rapidly emerging
fields as computational biology, nanobiotechnology, brain
science, genetic medicine, cell engineering and others.
"So many changes," Brody said, "demand that we not be
satisfied with success. They require that we not take the
easy way out. They mandate that we continue, that we
redefine success. That we take every opportunity to put our
knowledge to work for the good of the world and of
humanity."
The campaign to date has raised $2.3 billion from more
than 184,000 donors, including more than $200 million for
student financial aid and endowments for 61 new faculty
chairs.
During the campaign, donors have, among other
accomplishments:
Established the
Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, the
Johns
Hopkins Malaria Institute, the
Johns Hopkins Heart Institute, the
Institute
for Cell Engineering and the
Genetics and Public
Policy Center.
Supported a physical
transformation of the Peabody Institute campus and
construction of clinical and research buildings for Johns
Hopkins Medicine, a new teaching building at the School of
Medicine and, at the Homewood campus, an admissions and
visitors center, residence hall and computational science
and engineering building.
Created academic programs in
Jewish studies,
Africana
studies,
South Asia studies and
real estate, and a
Center on Politics and Foreign Relations.
Backed research initiatives in
population health, basic sciences, sudden cardiac death,
micronutrients, measles, behavioral health, neuroscience,
breast cancer, pancreatic cancer and U.S.-Korea relations.
Of the $900 million remaining to be raised toward the
new goal, the university and Johns Hopkins Medicine are
seeking $100 million for student financial aid, $150
million for facilities, $100 million for faculty support,
$500 million for research support and academic programs and
$50 million for unrestricted use. Overall, 36 percent of
the new dollars sought will augment the endowments of the
university and Johns Hopkins Hospital.
Some specific initiatives include:
Funds to support the work of
"young investigators," junior faculty who need to establish
their research programs.
Endowment support for the
university's Baltimore Scholars Program, which provides
free tuition for undergraduate study to graduates of the
city's public schools.
Endowment support for
undergraduate scholarships in Arts and Sciences and
Engineering, as well as additional undergraduate financial
aid for students at the Peabody Conservatory.
Graduate fellowship support to
attract the very best graduate students.
Funds to begin construction of a
new facility for the School of Nursing and the Berman
Bioethics Institute in East Baltimore, as well as an
addition to the Eisenhower Library on the Homewood
campus.
Funds to begin a major renovation
of the university's signature building, Gilman Hall, to
house a comprehensive home for the humanities.
Much-needed unrestricted support
to allow the university's deans and directors to pursue
immediate opportunities that develop every year.