The Presidents Of Johns Hopkins University: A Legacy of Achievement ----------------------------------------------------------------- [Compiled from material in the Ferninand Hamburger Jr. Archives and in "Johns Hopkins: Portrait of a University," by John C. Schmidt.] ----------------------------------------------------------------- Gilman was lured from the presidency of the University of California at Berkeley by the trustees to become Johns Hopkins' first president. He was a proven leader who could attract known scholars and identify promising young faculty. Gilman was interested in establishing a university to promote the highest standards of scholarship and research in the sciences and in the humanities. His formal inauguration, on Feb. 22, 1876, has become Commemoration Day, the day on which many university presidents have chosen to be installed in office. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Although he was still a young man, Ira Remsen's reputation as a chemist prompted President Gilman to appoint him as one of the university's five original faculty members. In 1879 he founded the American Chemical Journal, acknowledged as "the first really scientific journal of research chemistry in America." During his years as Hopkins president, several endowed chairs were established, the undergraduate program was expanded from three to four years, and a successful fundraising drive allowed building on the Homewood campus to begin. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Frank Goodnow was a political scientist with a long record of public service to both U.S. and foreign governments. His tenure was marked by rapid university growth, including an increase in the university income from $500,000 to nearly $2.5 million annually. While he is credited with wisely managing university finances, he may be remembered best for his attempt to eliminate the undergraduate program and the bachelor's degree by cutting the first two years of undergraduate work. Although the "Goodnow Plan" was briefly instituted, it proved a failure. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Joseph Ames came to Johns Hopkins as a freshman in 1883 and remained affiliated with the university until his death 60 years later. A physicist, he published four textbooks in his field, became professor of physics and director of the Physics Laboratory and eventually served as head of the executive committee that would evolve into the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. His gift for administration led to his becoming dean in 1924, provost in 1926 and president in 1929. His six-year tenure was the most difficult for the young university as the Great Depression contributed to a fivefold increase of the university's deficit. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Isaiah Bowman assumed the presidency at the height of the Depression. Among his achievements was balancing the budget by raising an endowment fund of more than $1 million. When the United States entered the war, Bowman became a special adviser to the secretary of state and was later a member of the American delegation at the conference at which the United Nations was founded. At war's end, Bowman directed the restructuring of the university to accommodate returning servicemen. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Detlev Bronk, credited with formulating the modern theory of the science of biophysics, picked up where President Bowman had left off reshaping the postwar university. Bronk believed firmly in academic freedom. He resisted vigorously an attempt by Wisconsin Sen. Joseph McCarthy to have Hopkins dismiss Professor Owen Lattimore prior to his trial on espionage charges. He tried unsuccessfully to revive the "Goodnow Plan" but succeeded in acquiring the School of Advanced International Studies in Washington. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Lowell Reed was 67 and had just retired from a distinguished 35-year career as a research scientist in biostatistics and public health administration at Hopkins when he was asked to serve as university president, having previously held posts as dean and director of the School of Hygiene and Public Health and later as vice president in charge of medical activities. During his three-year administration, Reed continued Hopkins' postwar growth, overseeing the construction of Shriver and Ames halls and adding a second set of Alumni Memorial Residences. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Milton S. Eisenhower, youngest brother of U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower, is the only Hopkins president to serve two non-consecutive terms. During his first term, the university income tripled, the endowment doubled and new construction included the athletic center and the library at Homewood that would bear his name. Eisenhower was well-liked by faculty and students, and upon his retirement in 1967, he was given the title president emeritus in recognition of his devoted service. He was coaxed out of retirement for 10 months in 1971-72 after Lincoln Gordon resigned. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Former ambassador to Brazil and assistant secretary of state for inter-American affairs, Lincoln Gordon served as president for four tumultuous years, not only for Hopkins but for the country. Students and faculty, critical of the country's involvement in Vietnam, for a brief time occupied the university's executive offices. Citing increasing criticism from faculty, Gordon resigned in March 1971, but not before introducing coeducation to the undergraduate program in 1970.