Dear Whiting School Community,

Just as the magazine was going to press, we learned that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an engineering graduate from JHU’s class of 1964, has committed $350 million to Johns Hopkins to support research and teaching that crosses disciplinary boundaries and to provide our undergraduates with need-based financial aid. This is the largest gift ever made to Johns Hopkins. Indeed, over the past four decades, Mike Bloomberg’s generosity to the university has been positively breathtaking. In all, the record-breaking $1.1 billion he has given Johns Hopkins has transformed nearly every aspect of the university.

To find out more about the tremendous impact of Mike Bloomberg’s philanthropy and to explore his motivations for giving, visit The Hub. In our next issue, we plan to bring you more details about the effect his gift will have.

This historic act of philanthropy comes as we celebrate the centennial of Johns Hopkins Engineering—an occasion that makes an ideal time to step back, assess our accomplishments, identify our challenges, and reconsider the values and trends that tie the school today so inextricably to its past.

What have I found? Our loyalty to our founders’ vision is remarkable. We remain unrelenting in our pursuit of solutions to large, complex problems, dedicated to the education of our students, and committed to discovery for the benefit of society. Another constant? The crucial role philanthropy has played, and continues to play, in our success.

When I consider the transformative power of individual philanthropy like Michael Bloomberg’s, other names, of course, come immediately to mind: the donors for whom the school, its deanship, and many of our buildings are named.

But it is your commitment, combined with theirs, that has provided support for undergraduate scholarships, graduate fellowships, professorships, faculty scholars, and countless other initiatives. Together, you have funded the physical and human infrastructure that enables some of our most productive research efforts and supports our stellar educational programs. Your combined contributions to our school and the university have not only influenced, but defined, a wide range of areas and initiatives.

We have just embarked on a centennial fundraising effort, the Centennial Wall in Hackerman Hall, to recognize our tradition of philanthropy and extend to future generations the values upon which the school was founded.

While philanthropic support is important to our success, valued contributions come in many forms—and many of you have given generously. Alumni who share their professional experiences at career nights, parents who provide student internships, and friends who mentor undergraduates all contribute to our leadership role in engineering research and education and help ensure our future success.

Your support enables the Whiting School to fulfill its mission to lead through innovation, and for this, I offer a heartfelt and hearty thank you!

Best wishes,
Nicholas P. Jones
Benjamin T. Rome Dean, G. W. C. Whiting School of Engineering

“When you look at these great investments that have transformed American higher education, it’s Rockefeller, it’s Carnegie, it’s Mellon, it’s Stanford—and it’s Bloomberg.”
Johns Hopkins President Ronald J. Daniels in the New York Times, discussing the impact of Michael Bloomberg’s $1.1 billion support of Johns Hopkins University.