Headlines@Hopkins: Johns Hopkins University News Releases

News Release

Office of News and Information
Johns Hopkins University
901 South Bond Street, Suite 540
Baltimore, Maryland 21231
Phone: 443-287-9960 | Fax: 443-287-9920

November 11, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Dennis O'Shea or Tracey Reeves
dro@jhu.edu or treeves@jhu.edu

Quotes about President-Elect Ronald J. Daniels

FROM JOHNS HOPKINS:

Pamela P. Flaherty, SAIS '68 (MA)
Chair, board of trustees; chair, presidential search committee
"Ron is a strategic thinker, known for articulating and implementing bold and visionary academic ideas and initiatives. He impressed the committee with his passion for the academic enterprise, his record of academic entrepreneurship and his commitment to building excellence in both the basic sciences and multidisciplinary research centers and institutes. He has breadth and depth of experience with the oversight of academic programs for undergraduate and graduate students at Penn's School of Arts and Sciences and professional schools. He's a great communicator and inspires those with whom he works to push constantly for greater achievement, both institutional and personal.
"He has a remarkable record as Penn's chief academic officer, helping to accelerate Penn's rise to preeminence among the nation's universities. With a vast portfolio of responsibilities, he focused in particular on the recruitment of an outstanding cadre of faculty across the disciplines, an increase in the diversity of faculty and students, the implementation of new and exciting programs for undergraduates to enrich the undergraduate experience at Penn, the development of new international programs, including programs in the medical sciences, a program to expand Penn's interdisciplinary collaboration, new modes of technology transfer and many others ."

William R. Brody
Current president, The Johns Hopkins University.
"Ron Daniels has the experience, drive and personality to take Johns Hopkins to the next level of excellence. He has a wonderfully relaxed and engaging personality. He's widely read and he's a scholar on a broad range of issues, many of which relate to public policy on important issues in our society. With that background, he'll be an effective advocate for research universities and higher education in Washington. Ron's background and experience are somewhat complementary to mine. That will no doubt allow him to focus on areas for growth and development that bridge existing strengths across multiple disciplines and divisions at Johns Hopkins."

Michael R. Bloomberg, Eng '64
Mayor, New York City; former chair, board of trustees
"Bill Brody has been a highly effective and visionary president of Johns Hopkins and he will be a tough act to follow. However, I am confident that Ron Daniels is the right man to take the university ever farther. He's smart, he's focused, and he's a great leader. We owe tremendous gratitude to Bill for his many years of service and I send my very best wishes to Ron as he takes the helm of this incredible institution."

N. Anthony Coles, A&S '82
Presidential search committee member; trustee of the university; president and CEO, Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc., Emeryville, Calif.
"Ron is charismatic, energetic and intellectually curious, a real doer' with an uncanny ability to pull disparate groups together and get them moving in the same direction, so that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. He has an instinctive sense for prioritizing and executing against the most important activities that will make the most tangible differences."

Kurt R. Herzer, A&S '09
Presidential search committee member; undergraduate student, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, Melville, N.Y.
"Ron Daniels is thoughtful, engaging, and has a deep regard for undergraduates and a strong desire to expand upon President Brody's legacy in improving the student experience at Johns Hopkins. I believe his charisma will bring a new energy to students and the university as it enters another decade of innovation and discovery."

M. Diane E. Griffin
Presidential search committee member; Alfred and Jill Sommer Professor and chair of molecular microbiology and immunology, Bloomberg School of Public Health.
"The committee was impressed with Ron's commitment to academic excellence and his experience with addressing the complex issues of a diverse university. Particularly important was his understanding of the substantial challenges that academic health centers and medical research communities are facing over the next few years."

Joseph Katz
Presidential search committee member; William F. Ward Sr. Distinguished Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Whiting School of Engineering.
"Interactions with Ron Daniels during the presidential search have left me with two impressions. On one hand he projects an image of youthful leadership and creative entrepreneurship, which is full of fresh new ideas. On the other hand, he is warm and approachable, a trait that will undoubtedly keep him involved in campus life, consistent with his previous record, and make him popular among students and faculty in all divisions."

Stuart S. Janney III
Presidential search committee member; trustee of the university and of Johns Hopkins Medicine; chairman, Bessemer Trust Co., New York.
"Ron is a superb combination of intellect, energy and leadership ability. He impressed all of us with his vision for Hopkins and his colleagues at the universities of Toronto and Pennsylvania were effusive in their praise of his effectiveness. He has all the talents needed to guide a multifaceted institution of Hopkins' stature. "

FROM COLLEAGUES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA:

Amy Gutmann
President, The University of Pennsylvania.
"Ron Daniels is a gifted academic leader, a noted scholar, and an energetic collaborator with a passion for excellence. As my chief academic officer these past three and one-half years, Ron has played a prominent role in advancing Penn's most important institutional priorities, including increased access for students, building our interdisciplinary programs, expanding our local and global engagement, and Making History: The Campaign for Penn. He has been a wonderful partner to me, an exceptional colleague to our faculty and staff, and a cherished friend to the Penn community. Johns Hopkins is extremely fortunate to have Ron as its next president, just as Penn has been to have him as our 28th provost."

Arthur H. Rubenstein
Executive vice president of the University of Pennsylvania, dean of the School of Medicine.
"Since coming to Penn, Ron's enthusiasm for the work of Penn Medicine has known no bounds. His intellectual curiosity and rigor for research, his longstanding devotion to teaching and his appreciation for the challenges of running a large health system have created a strong and effective partnership between the university, the medical school and the health system."

Ralph W. Muller
Chief executive officer, University of Pennsylvania Health System.
"Ron has been a terrific supporter of our clinical efforts both in the greater Philadelphia area and as far away as Botswana, where he has been instrumental in championing Penn's longstanding commitment in this challenged area of the world. His engagement in health policy issues and his understanding of the complexities of delivering patient care — the rewards as well as the risks — quickly made him a valued colleague to us all."

Eduardo Glandt
Dean, University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science; professor, chemical and biomolecular engineering.
"Ron Daniels has an impeccable taste for scholarship. He represents the values and the vision that have made American academe the envy of the world."

Brian Strom, Med '75
Associate Vice Dean, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine; chair, Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology; George S. Pepper Professor of Public Health and Preventive Medicine.
"Ron has been an absolute pleasure to work with, a true internationalist, as well as a friend of the School of Medicine. He is also one of the brightest people I have ever met, and a phenomenally nice guy. As a Hopkins alumnus, I am delighted for Hopkins. As a Penn colleague, we will sorely miss him. You are getting a treasure."

FROM COLLEAGUES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO:

J. Robert S. Prichard
President emeritus, The University of Toronto; president and CEO, Torstar Corp.
"Ron Daniels ranks with the most gifted academic leaders I know. As both dean and provost, he has been extraordinarily effective, pursuing the highest academic standards, advancing the academic mission and redefining the academic frontiers. For a university of the distinction, strength and ambition of Johns Hopkins, Ron will be a magnificent president, leading Hopkins to even higher standing among the world's finest universities. He is a superb choice."

Robert J. Birgeneau
Chancellor and professor of physics; University of California, Berkeley; former president, University of Toronto.
"I think it's a brilliant choice on Johns Hopkins' part. When I was in Canada, where we met, Ron Daniels was among the most talented academic leaders in the entire country. He's a visionary. He will be very ambitious for the university. He will be unrelenting in terms of applying the highest standards. I'm confident that the faculty will find him to be an inspiring leader. I think he's a very worthy successor to Bill Brody, who has been one of Hopkins' greatest presidents."

FROM A COLLEAGUE AT YALE UNIVERSITY:

Harold Hongju Koh
Dean, Gerard C. and Bernice Latrobe Smith Professor of International Law, Yale Law School; former assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor.
"As an internationally respected legal scholar, Ron Daniels has deftly used tools of political science, economics, and law to illuminate the legal and institutional challenges of the developing world. He has thought and written trenchantly about legal responses to terrorism, corporate governance, government by voucher, and the role of legal institutions in political and economic development. At a stunningly young age, he has demonstrated inspired leadership, incandescent energy, and an instinctive feel for how universities can improve public policy and lead a process of humane globalization."